Lies and Mistakes
by Sage of Downtown Hyrule
Summary: Deception comes so easy when bad blood gets in the way of better judgement. Beyond the companionship and lighthearted conversations, something just isn't right.
1. Chapter 1

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 1:

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So-a," Mario began as he and Roy were sitting in two chairs in the living room, "you say dat your friend-a isa really good fighter-a?"

Roy nodded, "Last time I saw him he was, but you know how royalty can get over time."

Mario shifted his gaze from Roy to Peach, "I-a know what you mean-a, they can be-a a real pain sometimes-a..."

Roy glanced discretly at Peach also, "Yeah, especially the princesses..."

"I heard that, fire boy!" Zelda said as she walked past him and gave him a playful thump on the back of the head.

Mario chuckled, "I'm surprised Zelda is in such a good mood with all she's been going through."

Roy crossed his legs, "What do you mean?"

Mario sighed, "Well, I saw-a her go over to-a Link and Samus to try and start- a conversation-a about three-a times today-a, but they just ignored her-a."

The pyro swordsman just scratched his head, "That's odd, Link was just telling me the other day about how he wanted to spend more time with her."

Mario shook his head, "I don't think they're ignoring-a her on purpose-a, it's just hard to notice someone else-a talking when your-a already- talking to someone else-a."

"I guess I see what you're saying..." Roy said slowly, "it just doesn't make any sense."

Roy got up instantly as he heard a loud "knock" at the door.

"I guess that-a will be-a your friend," Mario said, getting up, "I guess you two-a will have-a lot-a to catch up on-a,"

Roy waved good-bye to his Itallian friend and opened the door to reveal a young man with dark blue hair.

"It's good to see you again, Marth," the red head said to the prince of Altea as he lead him into the Smash Mansion.

Marth walked out of the afternoon heat and starred around the room at all the unfamiliar faces, the only one he even knew was his friend Roy. And then there was a whole room full of people he didn't know. He glanced around quickly at all of them, but only one caught his eye.

The girl with the pale blonde hair.

Marth had saw her starring at him from across the room, and when he looked up, she turned away from him blushing. He wanted to get to know her, just to be able to talk. He only had one problem; her boyfriend was sitting right next to her. They were whispering, laughing, talking, though he didn't expect someone like her to still be without a boyfriend.

"You alright, Marth?" Roy asked, waving a hand in front of the blue-haired swordsman's face, "I see you starring at Samus."

_So Samus is her name... too bad I'm too scared to speak to her. _

Marth just starred at her for a moment, when he suddenly blurted out a question.

"Is that her boyfriend?" he asked, gesturing towards the blonde garbed in a green tunic sitting beside Samus.

"No!" came Roy's reply, "Link and Samus are just friends; she doesn't warm up to people that well, much less have a boyfriend."

Marth nodded, running a finger through his dark blue hair, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Roy answered, "you should speak to her."

Marth sighed, _It's not as easy as you think, Roy..._

But the prince shook off these thoughts, he was almost ashamed of himself. He was here to push his physical limitations, not to gawk at women. No matter how interesting they may seem; it just wasn't right.

Samus starred at Marth from her seat on the couch beside Link, What had he been starring at her? Why did she stare back?

Marth looked back up and met eyes with Samus. She felt her face get hot.

"Sam, are you alright?" Link asked from beside her, "you're blushing."

Samus quickly turned her eyes from Marth, who looked to have been blushing too.

"Hi, guys!" Peach said, sitting next to Link, "have you met Marth yet? He's over there with Roy."

The Mushroom princess' sudden entrance had interrupted Samus of her thoughts.

"No, but I will soon; turns out, me and Roy have to share a room with him." Link replied as he recalled Roy telling him that a few days before.

Hehad answered the question with little interest. He wanted to get outside, mostly because he had saw Zelda leave out the door.

Samus just shook her head as if she could care less about the arrival of Marth, but the truth was, it took every muscle in her body to stop her from going to talk to him herself.

Peach shrugged, "I think he's nice."

Samus snorted, "You think every attractive guy here is nice!"

"Who said he was attractive?" Peach asked, "I didn't say that! You did!"

Link began to feel cramped, like all of these conversations were getting him nowhere. He couldn't take it anymore, he needed to get outside. Not to mention he had totally ignored Zelda just a few minutes before, and he saw her when she went outside. He tried to make it look like he didn't notice her trying to speak to him. He knew it was stupid of him, but he wanted to talk to Zelda alone.

"I need to get some air," Link said getting up, "I'll see you guys later."

The three just starred as Link walked across the living room to the front door.

"What's wrong with him?" Peach asked.

"He's probably just a little fidgety,"Samus assured her as the Hylian walked out the door, "nothing to worry about."

Link sat on the porch steps, cool night air washing over his body, crickets chirping somewhere in the distance. That was what he liked about crickets, they could be a mile away, but you still could hear them as if they were two inches from you.

"Link?"

Link turned around slowly to see the Princess of Hyrule leaning against the banister, "Zelda," he said, "what are you doing out here alone?"

He was hoping she was outside, but wasn't sure if she would even speak to him after what happened inside.

Zelda sat down beside Link on the steps, "I just felt a little left out, that's all."

"I am so sorry." he said as he lowered his head in shame, "Me and Samus were hoping that you'd come and sit with us. You had tried to speak to us, but I ignored hoping that you would come outside so I could talk to you alone."

Zelda's cheeks turned slightly red when he finished, and Link looked embarrassed, but continued, "Me _and_ Samus, Peach, and Roy. We were even planning on going to that park tomorrow, and they, well... _I_ wanted to know if you would come with us. Please say yes, I need to make up for beinga jerk."

The princess looked intoLink's apologetic eyes andsmiled, "I'd like that,"

Link stood up, grinning, "Then it's a date."

He extended his hand out to her, helping her off the stairs, "Come on. Maybe we can catch the others before they go to bed,"

The two walked inside, not even noticing that they were still holding hands. Samus was in the spot Link had left her, minus Peach, who was talking to Mario at the other side of the room.

The bounty hunter had a humored expression on her face, and just starred at the pair.

"What?" Link asked, catching her stare, "Is there something on my face?"

He reached up to feel around his face when he felt a soft, gloved hand interlocked between his fingers, then he knew exactly why Samus had been starring at him.

"I'm so sorry!" Zelda said, letting go of his hand instantly.

"No, it was my fault," Link insisted, "I guess it was just so comfortable I-"

He broke off his sentence, realizing what he was saying, and mentally slapped himself.

"Okay," Samus began, "this is a little too awkward for me, I think I'm going to get to bed,"

Zelda watched as Samus left the room and disappeared into the crowd.

"I'm a little tired too," she admitted to Link, "I think I'm going to bed as well."

Link nodded as Zelda departed after Samus, leaving him alone. He could tell that Zelda was a little tired, but he figured that she left out of embarrassment. Which, he really didn't blame her.Link looked up at the clock, it was about 10:00 pm.

_Gosh, _he thought, _I really know how to drive off a crowd..._

"Pichu!"

Link looked down to see a small yellow pokemon smiling at him. He picked it up and rubbed it affectionately behind the ears, "You won't leave me, will you, Pichu?"

Pichu made herself comfortable in Link's arms, "Pi!"

Link hugged her, "Do you want to come with me to the park tomorrow? Zelda will be there."

"Pichu, pi!" she answered at the mention of Zelda, jumping out of his arms and scampering off to find the princess.

Link just sighed and stood up slowly, "See ya later, then."

He walked past Captain Falcon and Fox, who were deep in conversation about guns, into a dimly lit hallway with several rooms.

He pulled a set of keys from out of his pocket, and turned it in the lock. It let out a silent "click", and he opened the door slowly.

Marth and Roy were obviously still out. After flipping the light switch, Link relived himself of all his weapons and equipment, then changed into a pair of red silk pajamas. He liked the way the smooth, cool material felt against his body. He turned the lights back off, then wriggled under the covers, and in a few minutes, the warmth lulled him into a relaxing sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marth and Roy quietly entered the bedroom, not wanting to disturb their roommate.

"Watch this," Roy said, grasping a piece of his cape in his hands.

The red-haired swordsman took the fabric and tickled Link's nose, The Hylian swatted sleepily at Roy.

"Z... Zelda," he muttered groggily.

Roy's eyes widened, and Marth let out something between a whisper and a laugh, "That's neat, he mutters about people in his sleep!"

_That's not just anyone,_ Roy thought, _that's Princess Zelda. That's strange. Of all the times he's talked in his sleep, I've never heard him say Zelda..._

Roy continued to stare at Link, who was fast asleep once more, "He usually doesn't talk about her, he usually mutters about waffles or something..."

"What's the big idea?" Marth asked, "All he did was call out someone's name."

"Not just anyone," Roy informed him, "He was talking about Zelda.

Marth looked slightly confused as took off his sword, "Who?"

Roy sighed, "That's right, you didn't really get to meet her..."

"Was she the one with the long ears?" Marth asked, pouncing on his bed on the other side of the room.

"Yeah," Roy answered slowly.

"Is he in love with her or something?" Marth asked.

Roy shook his head, "Nah, I always though Link liked her, but he always denied it. So I just stopped accusing him."

Marth shrugged, "Well, you can't expect him to tell _you _anything like that,"

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Roy asked coldly.

"Well," Marth replied, "you _are _a bit of a big mouth..."

Marth expected Roy to get angry, but he only nodded.

"I guess you have a point," the pyro swordsman grinned, "I can't keep a secret to save my life."

"Well, since it's so obvious you like Peach, I guess you speak the truth," Marth added, practically asking for a fight.

"I don't think so! How could I like that stuck-up, e-"

Marth cut off Roy before he could continue, "Ask yourself that! I don't know! The only thing I know, it that your personality flares up every time she enters the room, and I can clearly see the regret in your eyes when you insult her!"

"How in the heck would you know all that?" Roy asked hotly.

"You can't hide your feelings very well!"a Hylianreplied, "And it's pretty obvious when she's the only one you go into "jerk mood" with, especially when she's done nothing to you!

"What the heck are you doing awake, Link?" Roy asked, chucking a pillow at the blonde's head, "Go back to dreaming of Zelda!"

"I can't! Not with you two loud mouths-WHAT?" Link starred at Marth and Roy with the saddest, most confused look they had ever seen, "What do you mean, "dreaming of Zelda"?"

But then realization dawned, then he remembered, he had had a nightmare.

_Zelda was clear in the distance, running from him as if he was some sort of disease._

"_Zelda," he pleaded, "just listen to what I have to say!"_

_But Zelda didn't listen, she just ran harder._

_Link fell to his knees and hung his head in defeat, "Please!" he called after her. But she just kept on running, he had no idea how she got away from him in heels, but she was doing a heck of a job._

"_No!" was the princess' reply, "I don't want to hear anything you have to say!"_

_Link could tell her voice was cracking, and a few seconds later, he could hear her faint sobs. He wanted to get up and run after her again, to wipe her tears away and hold her, but he couldn't. Why did he have to make such a stupid mistake? Why did she have to see him?_

_Why wouldn't she just listen to him?_

Link broke himself away from his thoughts. It was only a scene from his dream; the rest he couldn't remember. He hated to see Zelda cry, even if it was just a dream. And the worse part was; he was the cause of it.

"I did have a dream about Zelda," Link stated, thewarmth leaving hisvoice,"but not in the way you're thinking..."

The two other swordsmen exchanged confused glances as Link began to tell them about his dream.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So," Samus cooed, "what's been going on with you and Link?"

Peach, who had been sitting on her bed reading some sort of celebrity oriented magazine, quickly tossed it aside, "Oh, you finally told him?"

"No," Zelda replied, "we just were talking outside."

Samus fell back onto her bed and starred at the ceiling, she really didn't want to pester Zelda. All she was thinking about was the mysterious Marth, she had saw humor in his expression when he caught her starring at him. She felt it wasn't in a mocking way, for some reason, she found affection in his blue eyes.

"But haven't you liked Link for the longest time?" Peach asked.

Zelda looked as if she was going to speak, but, she only lowered her head. Samus just looked at her, and the Mushroom Princess picked her magazine and began to pick back up on her reading.

Peach's question seemed to hang in the air, like thick fog, just sitting there, digging into the back of Zelda's mind.

_Did_ she like Link?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Ah, there you have it, the first chapter of my first fanfic. Tell me if you liked it, but don't just say it was good because I'm new. But, of course, don't feel embarrassed to say you liked it. Also, I'd just like to give a special shout out to Royal Kenya. YOU SO TOTALLY ROCK! Your Zelink fluffs brings a tear to my eye, and so I shall put it to shame by trying romance too! I know it's a tad short, but please bear with me! I promise the next chapter will be longer and more exciting!**

-Sage of Downtown Hyrule


	2. A Princess' Plight

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 2: A Princess' Plight

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only light in Ganondorf's room was the patch of morining sun shinning through the window. He pulled his bulky frame off of the bed and closed the curtains.

"Stupid light," he muttered groggily as he rubbed his eyes.

The King of Evil had been clean for months now, ever since he came here. Though, it wasn't like temptation was never there... because it was.

Every time Link rubbed the wrong nerve, and everytime he saw him getting close to someone, the grudge was ignitied, and he would have done anything to break free of being good. Because there was still MUCH evil in him, and it needed to break out.

But he couldn't go back to that evil place; the torture was overpowering, it could drive a villian mad. It was where evil met evil, and it was gruesome.

Ganondorf rummaged through his closet and pulled out a dark brown suit with dark black armor; his usual attire.

After fully dressed he went downstairs into the kitchen, most of the people cramped at one spot, chatting loudly, eating, and some just sitting.

"What took you so long?" Bowser grunted, "We missed our appointment with _him_ for no reason!"

"Don't get an attitude with me!" Ganondorf growled back, "That bumbling roommate of mine must have tripped over the alarm clock cord again!"

Ganondorf approached the Koopa King and sat down.

"Don't blame Fox for this!" Bowser argued back, "You should be more responsible!"

Ganon ignored him and stared blankly around the room, but his gaze stopped at Link, who was talking with Marth, "Link is getting pretty close to that Marth, I see a strong friendship."

Bowser glared and the Gerudo, "So?"

"_So_, I was just saying!" Ganondorf's voice was a low rumble, and he watched as Marth and Link parted ways. Marth left down a near hallway, and Link left out the door with the Princess of Hyrule. He looked back to the Koopa.

"I think we should reschedule the "meeting"..." Bowser stated, using his fingers as quotation marks when he said the word 'meeting'.

Ganondorf's flaming red eyes pondered this for a moment, and finally he gave in, "Fine..." just make this one quick, I have someone I have to see,"

And with that, the evil pair walked off, muttering in dark, inaudible voices to each other. Young Link, who had been standing nearby and heard the conversation, just shrugged it off. Ganon was good now anyway, so, why should he care?

"Young Link," Ness called, "c'mon! Popo and Nana are going outside to play! Wanna come?"

The young Hylian nodded and ran to catch up with his friend.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So," Link said as he Zelda walked around outside, "you're absolutely sure you're coming with me and the others today?"

Zelda smiled, "I wouldn't miss it!"

"That's great!" Link exclaimed, "Just remember, since everyone's ate breakfast and Marth said he had something to do this morning, we're going around this afternoon. I guess they want to have a picnic too."

"Hey, guys!" called a voice from behind, "have you seen Marth anywhere? I can't find him!"

The two turned around to see Roy.

He jogged up to the pair, "Well, he told me he needed to see someone," Link replied, "but I have no idea who."

The pyro swordsman sighed, "Ah, well, he'll turn up later... Wait, have you seen Samus?"

Link shook his head, "I haven't seen her... Have you Zel?"

"No," Zelda replied, "she woke up before me this morning."

A grin was starting to form on Roy's lips.

"Roy," Link warned, "what do you know that I don't?"

Roy waged his finger in a girly manner, "Oh, girlfriend, I ain't tellin' nothing!"

Link cocked an eyebrow as Roy walked back into the mansion laughing madly at his own joke.

"What's up with him?" Zelda asked.

Link shrugged, "He just does that sometimes... Kinda creepy actually. Come on, let's see if we can find Marth and Samus!"

Link grabbed Zelda gently by the wrist and led her back in after Roy, "Maybe they're together..."

The two walked in the mansion to see Roy spawled out on the floor with a red, hand shaped print across his face.

"Roy," Link said slowly, "what did you do now?"

"I didn't do anything!" Roy exclaimed, "all I did was tell Peach that-"

"Don't finish that sentence!"

Peach had her umbrella in hand, and she raised it in a threatning way, "Or it will be with the umbrella!"

"_Tell Peach that_," Roy challenged, "she looked nice today."

Peach's cheeks flushed a deep red, but her features softened.

"Um, well... you could have just said that! You didn't have to come up behind me and scare me!"

And with that, she marched off, leaving Roy staring at her in confusion. She could have hit him, right there, right now, but she declined.

"Wow," Link said, "even though you were slapped, that was the nicest thing you have ever said to anyone..."

"Oh well," Roy said, getting up, "she just can't take a compliment I guess,"

"You're not real popular with her, are you?" Link asked, trying hard not to laugh at his friend's bad luck with the Mushroom Princess.

"No," Roy replied, "she just hates me..."

Zelda placed a comforting hand on Roy's shoulder, "Roy, she doesn't hate you,"

"Yeah right," Roy said softly, shrugging the princess' hand off, "what makes you say that? Because she sure does a good job of making it look like hate."

Zelda really didn't know how to answer this, seeing as she had no real reason.

"Well, she never said she hated you, so, I guess you should take that as compliment enough."

Roy gave the princess a half-hearted smile, "Thanks Zel, but that's not exactly a good enough reason for me..."

Link frowned, "Well, what do you want from her?"

Roy paused before answering, "You know what? It's not that serious. Boo hoo, Peach doesn't like me. It's really not a big deal. See ya this afternoon..."

And with that, he walked off, leaving the two Hylians staring at him in confusion.

"I think he really took that a little harder than he should have," Zelda said.

"Well I might have thought she hated me too if she slapped me when I was going to give her a compliment," Link stated after Roy was out of earshot.

"That was nice of hime to say that, though," Zelda said hopefully.

"I don't think Roy's going to be happy unless he and Peach can get along." Link said.

Zelda stared at Link, who, for some reason, was grinning, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Link said, running a hand through his blonde hair, "just that I remember when Samus slapped me,"

"What did she slap you for?" Zelda asked.

Link couldn't help but laugh, "When we first met, we got in a fight and I called her a self-centered jerk, then she slapped me... She felt sorry and apologized a million times; we've been friends ever since."

Zelda joined in on the laughter, "Maybe that will happen to Roy and Peach!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What is it that you want from me?" Samus Aran asked.

"I want to get to know you!" Marth said for what seemed like the millionth time, "Is that too much to ask?"

The two stood in an empty hallway, their argument had went from the crowded room of people, into a small private corridor.

"It is when I know exactly WHY you want to get to know me!" the bounty hunter replied hotly.

"And why is that?" Marth asked angrily.

"You're obviously hitting on me! I'm not stupid!" she answered.

Marth crossed his arms, "How do you know that? You don't even know _me_!"

Samus threw her hands up in the air, "I give up!"

She started to walk off when she felt hands grasp her shoulders.

"Please," Marth pleaded, "I just want to be friends,"

_That is SO not the truth,_ the prince thought sadly, _but I'd rather be just friends then nothing at all._

Samus instantly felt guilty for pushing Marth away when she looked at his face. It was so sad, as if he blamed himself for something that wasn't his fault.

"I guess we have to," she replied, "because we both have to go on that picnic with the others; apparently all my friends have taken a liking to you.

After she finished her sentence, she saw the affection return to his eyes. The same affection she saw in them last night.

"That's great!" Marth exclaimed, "I'm sorry if I scared you with all the staring last night."

"Don't apologize," Samus told him, "I was staring at you too."

The bounty hunter found herself staring at Marth's handsome features. _Pull yourself together! _she thought, _You can't just go around ogling at him! That will make everything awkward!_

Marth caught her stare and looked down at his feet, _Don't mess this up..._

"There you two are!" Link said as he peeked around the edge of the door, "It's almost time to leave!"

Samus and Marth shared a secret smile as they followed Link out of the door; Marth had finally said what he wanted, and even though the meeting wasn't what he expected, at least he and Samus were on speaking terms. And that was good enough for him any day... but he still couldn't deny having deeper feelings for the bounty hunter.

The party of three emerged in the now empy living room, "Now, where are they...?" Link muttered, "They were here five minutes ago,"

"Well, I'm here!" Peach said as she walked into the large room and stood beside Samus.

"Then that only leaves Zelda and Roy," Link said as he leaned against the wall, "Where could they be?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roy and Zelda made their way down a dark corridor at the far side of the mansion.

"Jeez," Roy muttered to the princess, "Link could have at least told you where he was going. We should have left like fifteen minutes ago!"

"Well, he said he was going to look for Marth and Samus, so after he didn't come back, I went looking for him,"

"And then you ran into me, and here we-"

The swordsman dropped his sentence when he saw a dark skinned male come towards them.

"Ganondorf." Zelda said angrily.

The Gerudo smiled evily, "So, you do remember me, huh, Princess?"

"What do you want, Ganon?" Roy asked, obviously agitated.

"I just want to talk," Ganondorf said smoothly.

Zelda scoffed, "For what? We're on a schedule."

Ganondorf took a few steps backwards to let the two pass, "Oh, dreadfully sorry. Go on, I wouldn't want you to miss your appointment..."

The two passed by him, the King of Evil smirking as if he had accomplished something.

"He's up to something," Roy whispered into the princess' ear once Ganondorf was out of sight, "I don't trust him."

Zelda nodded, "I agree."

After a few more minutes of walking in silence, Roy and Zelda also arrived in the empty common room with the others.

"What took you guys so long?" Link asked them, "You've been gone for thirty minutes!"

"And since they are late," Marth began, "I order Roy to pack the food while the rest of us head down to the park!"

Roy groaned, "Fine, just don't move too fast; I'd like to be able to catch up later!"

The other five laughed as they headed out the front door, "Sure thing!" Marth called back.

Roy grinned and went into the kitchen to begin his "work".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Roy had joined back up with the rest, the six friends picked up the pace, and Zelda saw it as a perfect opportunity to tell Link about her and Roy's encounter with Ganondorf.

"Link," the princess said, speeding up a bit to walk beside the Hylian, "me and Roy ran into Ganondorf in the hallway."

"Did he try to hurt you or anything?" Link asked.

"No," Zelda said, "that's what was so odd, he acted strangely and just accepted our rudeness. That's not like him,"

"Don't worry," Link assured her, "if he tries anything, I'll be there to make sure he fails."

Link always felt he needed to protect the princess, and they had many arguments because of it. He knew she was a powerful fighter, but it was just in his nature to want to look out for her, and he didn't exactly know why.

Zelda sighed, "You don't have to do that anymore; I can take care of myself."

Link nodded, "I see... Then we can be partners, deal?"

Zelda laughed and shook his hand to seal the agreement, "Deal!"

Link looked over at Zelda, she was smiling happily, this was when he was glad he knew her. She had a smile that could brighten up anyone's day, no matter how rough it had been so far. The smile had worked on him many times. Link was just glad they had avoided another fight. As much as he hated to remember, there had been times when there was a silence between the two close friends, and it hurt him to see the princess mad at him. But if Ganondorf was up to something, then, Zelda and himself working side-by-side wasn't such a bad idea.

The noon sun beat down on them as they arrived at a quiet park, the summer breeze giving off somewhat of a sweet scent.

"This looks like a good spot," Roy said as he lowered the picnic basket to the ground, "Yogi Bear isn't here, is he?"

Peach laughed at his joke, but stopped immediately when she noticed she was the only one who found it funny.

"Well, at least _someone_ here has a sense of humor..." Roy said as he winked at the Mushroom Princess.

"We have senses of humor," Zelda protested, "it's just that nobody said anything funny!"

Roy glared at her, "Uh, huh! I'll remember that!"

Link looked around, the park was beautiful. It had playground equipment for small children, and all types of trees growing around.

He opened the basket Roy packed, and instead of seeing food, a small yellow Pokemon jumped out of the basket into Marth's arms.

Link chuckled at Pichu, "So you came anyway, didn't you?"

Pichu crawled on top of Marth's head and smiled, "Pichu!"

Marth pulled the Pokemon off of his head, "Who is this little guy?"

"It's actually a girl," Zelda said as Marth scratched Pichu's stomach, "and her name is Pichu."

Marth grinned, "Well, you're a cute one, aren't you?

Pichu nodded and sat beside Marth.

"At least one girl likes you," Roy said, smiling.

Marth then shot his friend a death stare, and Roy's smile faded as he looked up at the sky to avoid the prince's eyes.

This type of good natured conversation continued for a straight hour, every so often one cracked a joke at another, but knowing that the other meant no harm, they could all laugh about it. Then they noticed it got slightly darker outside than it was when they first arrived.

"Hey look," Peach began, "it's the sunset."

The seven of them looked up at the saphire colored sky.

"It is beautiful," Zelda commented, "I just can't believe that we've been here that long."

"We haven't," Samus said as she stretched, "if I remember correctly, I'd say we've been here a good hour."

Link looked into the picnic basket, "Well, didn't you pack any _food_, Roy?"

"Yeah!" Roy said, "Unless-"

Everyone glared at the rat-like Pokemon, "Pichu!"

Pichu only scampered over to Link, "Pi!"

The Hero of Time smiled and picked up Pichu, "Well, since it's so late, I guess we can reschedule..."

Marth stood up and dusted himself off, "Let's just enjoy the walk back,"

The other five stood up and made their way across the grassy field, passing a tree with large white flowers growing on it. Marth picked one and handed it to Samus.

"Please except this as a token of friendship," he said smiling.

Samus just stood there, dumbfounded with a white flower in her hand as Peach caught up to her.

"Wow," the princess commented, "looks like you have an admirer,"

Samus smiled and took the small stem of the flower and stuck it through her hair for safekeeping, "You may be right..."

Link walked along side of Zelda, Pichu clinging to his right shoulder, when he heard a russel in the bushes.

His hand tightened on his sword hilt, and he quickly turned around to see nothing.

"What's wrong, Link?" Zelda asked.

"Nothing," Link assured her, loosening his grip, "probably just a squirrel or something..."

Zelda gaze didn't change, "Are you sure?"

Link placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Zel. Just enjoy the last bit of the sunset."

"You're probably right," Zelda said quietly as a chilly breeze blew past them.

"Pichu, pi!" Pichu said, snuggling against Link to get warm.

Link rubbed his hands together, "It is a little nippy out here, huh?"

"I'm pretty comfortable," Zelda said, "though the wind IS picking up a bit,"

Link and Zelda just chatted the whole way there, and before either of them knew it, they were walking across the green lawn of the Smash Mansion.

"We're home," Roy muttered, opening the door for everyone.

"Thank you." Peach said when it was her turn to walk past.

Roy smiled and went in himself after Zelda. Maybe Peach _didn't_ hate him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The seven friends walked in together and sat down with the rest at the dinner table.

Marth's gaze met hers and he flashed her a warm smile. Samus immidiately became nervous.

"Where are you going, Sam?" Link asked as the bounty hunter got up from her seat and started towards the hallway.

"I'm a little tired, I think I'll turn in a early," Samus replied.

Peach gave a discreet nod towards Zelda, and both the princesses followed their friend. Noticing this, Samus walked even faster. She hoped her friends didn't get the wrong idea, she just had trouble being in the same room as Marth. Lost in her thoughts, she slowed down and her two friends caught up with her.

"So, what's the real reason for you leaving so early?" Peach's hands were clutching her knees as she panted from chasing Samus.

Samus shrugged, "I guess I just want to be by myself..."

As she approached the room she shared with the two princesses, she gently fingered the flower in her hair. _WAS it just a token of friendship, or something more? _she asked herself.

"Nah," Peach replied, "I think he really likes you,"

Samus, who had already stuck the key in the lock, had a look of total shock on her face, "Did I say that outloud?"

Zelda nodded, but didn't rub in in her face that it was a bit obvious that Prince Marth of Altea really cared for the cocky bounty hunter.

Samus blushed but turned the key and left behind the door, Peach and Zelda following behind. She walked over to her bedside table and laid something on it, then quickly rummaged through her closet for sleepware.

Zelda noticed the white flower on Samus' nightstand and smiled, "That was nice of him."

"Wha-?" Samus turned to see the Hylian's gaze fixed on the "token of friendship", "Oh, yeah... I guess,"

Peach opened her mouth to speak when Samus butt in, "Listen, Peach, Marth may like me, but that doesn't nessasarily mean I have feelings for him. So I would appreciate it if you didn't try and rub it in."

The Mushroom Princess stood gawking and Samus; the she DID indeed intend to pester her friend about her admirer.

Zelda finally spoke, "Well, I think he's sweet. You should really give him a chance, Sam."

Samus sighed deeply, "I want to... it's just that I don't open up to people that easily. Peach, you of all people should know how hard it is to talk about stuff like that."

As Samus left for the bathroom to change, Peach shot her a confused glance, "What's was that supposed to mean?"

The Mushroom Princess chose to act clueless, though, she knew very well why Samus made the remark. She would never admit to herself that she was hiding her emotions. She wasn't a big fan of drama.

Zelda just shrugged and stared out the window, the moon now hung in the sky, the stars twinkled brilliantly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link lay spawled out on his bed, staring up at the blank ceiling. Marth and Roy were sleeping peacefully on different sides of the room. His mouth was dry and cracked, he hadn't had anything to drink for at least five hours. He sat up and opened the door quietly, not wanting to disturb his friends, and left out into the empty hallway. The only sounds were his bear feet flopping silently against the carpet. Link rounded the corner into the kitchen when he heard muffled sobs.

"Peach?"

At the sound of Link's voice, the princess quickly turned around to see his concerned eyes. She quickly rubbed the tears from her eyes, not wanting Link to see her so vulnerable.

"Hi, Link," she said softly.

The Hylian took as seat beside her, "There's something bothering you. What is it?"

Peach sighed, she really didn't want to talk about it. But she knew Link wouldn't say a word if she told him, now she knew why Zelda didn't mind telling him things. Though, there was always one thing Zelda kept from Link.

"Are you going to answer me?" he asked.

Peach didn't want to bother Link with her problem, but she didn't want to shrug him off either. And having someone to talk to would help.

"You know Roy pretty well, right?"

Link nodded, "Yeah, has he bothered you or something?"

Peach laughed nervously and answered, "No, quite the opposite, actually."

Link raised an eyebrow, "You like him, don't you?"

The princess blushed madly, "Is it that obvious?"

"Actually no," he answered, "it's just that I could tell from the way you were acting."

Link noticed her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and he felt sorry for his friend, "Why were you crying?"

"That's kinda why I'm having trouble; I can't seem to tell him how I feel." Peach replied

Link grinned, "Are you expecting me to play cupid?"

Peach's gaze went down to the floor, "No, I could never ask that of you... That's-"

"Exactly what I'm going to do," Link interrupted, "Roy needs to be knocked down a peg or two. And besides... I think he likes you too."

Peach smiled and stood up, "Thanks, Link."

She gave her friend a hug, "Are you sure, though?"

Link released her, "I'm positive. I've always wanted to do something like this... I feel so... evil! Hold on while I get a drink of water; I'll walk you back to your room."

Peach stood there patiently waiting as she heard the clunking of ice in a glass, and the faucet being turned on. Link emerged fully hydrated a few minutes later.

"Much better!" he said with a tone of relief in his voice.

"Link, I can't thank you enough for what you're doing. You must think me odd to ask something like this of you." Peach said.

"Not at all," Link assured her, "It's my pleasure; you would have done the same for me. I just hope Roy's pride doesn't get away with him."

"Me too," Peach said softly as the two walked down the familiar hallway.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**There it is! Chapter 2! I would just like to thank my reviewers now.**

**Royal Kenya: Thank you! "Lay Off My Guy!" is over! Whaaaaaaaa! I look forward to "My Smile is Yours" and "Romancitsm" (sorry if I spelled the title wrong!), and of course, your follow up to "Lay Off My Guy!" Thanks for the support**

**RoyalFanatic: I haven't read any of your fanfics... (slaps self) I will though! I'm sure you rock also!**

**Black Light Princess: "Saving My Valentine's Day" is awesome! Update soon! Thanks for the support!**

**BlueShootinStar1: Thank you! I read your story, "Where Does My Heart Belong", and I reviewed for it, but for some reason in didn't show up. Keep in mind I love it and support it fully.**

**Babykoalaprincess: No, I take it as constructive critisism! Love "Leave Nothing"! Long live Zelink! Update soon! Thanks for the support!**

**I am proud to say the first chapter made a whopping 5 reviews. Thanks to all the above authors! **

**-Sage of Downtown Hyrule**


	3. The Rejection

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 3: The Rejection

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Birds chirped happily somewhere in the distance as Link and Peach stood outside.

"So," the princess began to her friend, "you're absolutely sure you want to do this?"

The two had carried their "business" conversation outdoors for privacy.

Link grinned, "Of, course! I'm always glad to help out. Don't worry, I'm not going to back down."

Peach smiled, "Thanks, Link."

The blonde shook his head, "You've said that two million times already!"

She ignored his statement, "How do we begin, _Cupid_?" Peach asked, giggling.

Link raised an eyebrow at his nickname, "Cupid?"

Peach smiled, "Yeah, isn't that what you said last night?"

Link shrugged, "I guess I see your point... Now, how exactly are we going to do this?"

The Mushroom Princess' face turned serious, "I really don't know; I was hoping you had some ideas..."

Link scratched his chin and scanned his surroundings, "Hmmm, I don't really have any, but it's not too late to brainstorm."

Peach nodded, it felt weird having Link help her like this, but he was being so sincere about it. He was determined to help, and she couldn't exactly say she didn't need his advice, because she did.

Link took a seat on the bench and looked at his friend, "Is there anything in particular you like about Roy? Any... qualities?"

Peach though for a moment, "Well, his looks I guess you could say obviously..."

Link frowned, "There has to be something else. Otherwise, you'll be just like his fangirls. Oh, he flirts with them alright, I've even seen him _date _them, but he likes them for all the wrong reasons. But, hey, Roy isn't someone to say no when you practically THROW yourself at him."

Peach sat down beside Link and thought for a moment about his words, "Well, I think he's funny, charming and all of that, but I can't really tell you why. I mean, we fight most of the time, I found it shocking myself that I have feelings for him."

Link smiled, "I think we're on the right track. Now, I'm going to talk to him and casually bring you into the conversation... Then I'll tell you what he says. Sound good?"

"Link," Peach began, "I think anything you're willing to do is excellent."

Link got up off the bench and dusted himself off, "Perfect. I'll be right back,"

The princess watched as her friend walked back into the mansion,_ I hope he knows what he's getting himself into, _she thought. _I really appreciate the advice, but how can he help me when he can't even play cupid for himself?_

Link walked through the door and scanned the room for Roy, then he saw him leaning against a wall near the hallway.

"Hey, Roy!" Link called jogging up to his friend, "What's up?"

The pyro swordsman shrugged, "Nothing much... You?"

Link shook his head, "Nah..." the Hylian racked his brain for a way to ease Peach into the conversation without raising Roy's suspicions.

"Dude," Roy asked, seeing his friend's blank expression, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, of course..." Link replied, "So, did you have fun yesterday?"

Roy smiled, "Yeah, I think Peach might be coming around... After all, she laughed at my joke."

Link felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Roy didn't even realize that he had done his job for him.

"You mean that lame one about Yogi Bear?" Link teased.

Roy crossed his arms, "It wasn't lame... you just don't know funny!"

Link chuckled and held his hands up in defense, "Hey, don't get angry, I was just playing around!"

Roy huffed and glanced down at his wrist watch, "Man, I have to be somewhere, see ya, Link!"

Link thought for sure Roy was angry with him. He licked his lips as the redhead quickly ran down the hallway, at least the hard part of this was over. He made his way towards the door when he heard a feminine voice call his name.

"Link!"

He turned around to see Zelda running towards him.

"You won't believe this!" she began excitedly, "But we're doing Team Battle together!"

Link grinned from ear to ear, "That's awesome! I always wanted to see what kind of team we'd make!"

To Link's surprise, Zelda threw her arms around his neck, "I guess we'll find out!"

"Uh, Zel," he said through her grip, "I'm not... breathing..."

"Oh, sorry!" she said, releasing him. Link noted the sweet scent lingering on him after the embrace.

"That's alright," he assured her, rubbing his neck, "no damage done. When are we going on?"

"In about five minutes," Zelda replied, "we're Blue Team."

Link nodded, "Just let me do something real quick, and I'll be with you in a sec,"

Zelda nodded, "I'll meet you in the Arena Room."

Link shot her a smile, "Yeah, see you in a few."

And with that he ran across the room and out of the door into the bright afternoon sun. He sprinted up to Peach who was still waiting patienly on the bench, and sat down panting. He needed to make this short, but thorough.

"R...Roy," Link began, "wants to get along as much as you do, but I don't know anything about him liking you."

He hated having to just come out and tell her this as if it was nothing, but he only had five minutes, and the news would have been just as bad now as later.

Peach frowned, it was a long run, but she crashed and burned, "Thanks Link, remind me to pay you back."

Link shot her a questioning glance, "Whoa, I'm not done helping yet! We need to get your confidence back up, and I"M going to give you my expert advice! But first, I have a Team Battle, see you in a few!"

And as quickly as he had gotten there, Link was already inside. Peach let out a sigh, Link was right; she didn't have the confidence to tell Roy about her feelings. But what still bothered her was that Link was going to work with her confidence. How in the heck was he going to pull THAT off? And how was his advice _expert_?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marth watched as Link bounded through the door and back down the hallways, _What's he in such a hurry for?_

The Altean prince walked over to the window and peered out of it, he saw Peach sitting outside by herself, then he looked at the spot where Link disappeared around the corner.

"They're both acting odd, huh?"

Marth quickly turned around to see a bulky man in a tight jumpsuit, "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?"

The man chuckled, "I'm sorry, the name's Captain Falcon." he extended his hand out for shaking, and Marth excepted it.

"Nice to meet you, Captain," Marth replied as he shook Falcon's hand.

The F-Zero pilot smiled, "Feelings mutual."

Marth didn't know much about this Captain Falcon, but he seemed like a nice guy.

"Link and Peach seemed to have developed some kind of connection," Falcon said to the Altean prince.

Marth glanced back out the window at Peach, "I just got here a couple of days ago, I am in no state to judge anybody."

Marth ran a finger through his dark blue hair and looked at the famous racer, his jaw was clenched, as if he saw something that really got on his last nerve.

"Um, are you okay?" Marth questioned.

"I'm great!" Falcon said in a sickening high-pitched tone.

Marth silently backed away from Falcon, "That's good," he replied, "you seemed a little tense."

The captain smiled, "I apologize, I was deep in thought..."

The more the swordsman bonded with the F-Zero pilot, the more he liked him. Of course, he had heard rumors about Falcon, but personally, he seemed like a good guy. Besides, Marth wasn't looking to make enemies.

Every so often, Marth would look out the window at Peach, who was still as lonely as she was thirty minutes ago.

"I have to go, see you around, Marth." Falcon said suddenly.

"See you around," Marth said as his company left. He sighed and jammed his hands into his pockets, "Might as well go back to my room..."

"Marth!"

The swordsman looked up at his name to see Link and Zelda bounding towards him, "We won the Team Match!"

Marth's gaze flew to the clock on the wall; he had no idea that he and Falcon had been talking that long, but he grinned as two finally stopped in front of him, "That's great! I knew you could do it!"

Link smiled, "Thanks... Uh, have you seen Roy anywhere?"

Marth shook his head, "No, last time I heard he was training with Mario."

"Oh," Link said, "Well, that makes sense; I only talked to him an hour or so ago,"

He turned his attention back to Zelda, "I still can't believe we beat Falco and Fox!"

Zelda smiled, "I guess we're just gifted,"

Link pulled her into a congratulatory hug and whispered in her ear, "Not to mention you kick serious butt!"

Zelda blushed slightly and smirked, "Thanks,"

Link released her, "You're welcome. It's the truth, though."

"What's up guys?"

Marth's gaze immediately shot up at the familiar voice of Samus Aran, "Nothing much," he replied.

Samus aimed a nervous look up at the ceiling to avoid Marth's eyes, "Uh, huh..."

Marth grinned sheepishly and his hands returned to his pockets.

"I saw you talking to Falcon earlier," Samus stated flatly.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Marth asked, not quite catching on to what she was trying to say.

"No, not at all, I was just saying..." the bounty hunter replied softly.

_Is there some kind of tension between us? _Marth asked himself. _Does she have something against Falcon? No, she would have told me if she did..._

Marth's further thoughts were shattered by the front door swinging open, and the princess of Mushroom Kingdom walking in to meet her friends.

Peach cleared her throat as soon as she found her place beside Zelda, "Well, now everyone's here..."

"Except Roy," Samus corrected.

Peach inhaled deeply, "I meant everyone who _matters_,"

Samus shot the Mushroom Princess an inquiring glance, but Peach only looked the other way. Link frowned; if Peach was just going to be bitter, then everything he was doing would be in vain. If Roy really believed she hated him, then he would just continue to riducule her. And Link didn't think that any relationship could exist under those circumstances, whether the two were together or not.

"Hey, everyone,"

The voice belonged to Roy.

"Hi, Roy," the others said in unison. Though there was a hint of venom in Peach's tone.

_Why does she have to be so complicated? _Roy thought sadly, _I hate to admit it, but I really care for her. But if she keeps being so cold I'll take the hint and leave her alone. It's obviously what she wants._

"Peach," Roy blurted out, "can I talk to you for a sec?"

The princess nodded, her features softening a little, Roy wanted to smile, but a smile wouldn't go well with what he wanted to askl her. The pyro swordsman led her to the other side of the room.

"Peach," he began, as soon as they were out of earshot from their friends, "do you hate me?"

The blonde just stood there gawking at him. Had it come to this? Had she really given him that impression?

"No!" she assured him, "I adore you, much less hate you!"

Peach covered her mouth as soon as she realized what she had said, "I'm so sorry, ignore me, I-"

Roy held his hand up for silence, "Don't apologize to me; it should be the other way around. I'm sorry for being a jerk."

Peach chuckled, "No, believe me, I'm the only jerk around here!"

The general smiled; something he didn't do often, "Fine, we're both sorry for being jerks to each other,"

The princess nodded.

"Truce?" she asked, giving him her hand for the shaking.

"Truce." Roy declared, holding her hand in a firm but gentle grip.

Link, who had been watching the scene from across the room with the others, smiled.

"What are you so happy about?" Samus asked, seeing the dazed expression on her friend's face.

Link pointed towards Roy and Peach, "See them? They're actually getting along."

Samus let out a breath of relief, "See? I told her if she gave Roy a chance that she would grow to like him!"

Link nodded and gazed over to Marth who was talking to Zelda, "Looks like someone else just needs a chance,"

"Huh?" Samus asked, dumbfounded.

"Don't play stupid with me," Link said, lifting his hand up and brushing some of Samus' pale blonde hair back, revealing a white flower, "You know exactly who I'm talking about."

The bounty hunter swallowed hard, "I'm surprised it hasn't wilted yet..."

"Don't change the subject," Link said in a demanding tone, "He really cares for you,"

Samus hufffed, "So? I care about you, Zelda, and all of my friends. Does that mean I have those kind of intentions? No, it doesn't. Now will you leave me alone and let me decide and act on my own feelings?"

Link was surprised by his friend's rudeness, "Sam, I know more than you think I do about these things, and I care for you too... Enough to see that you like Marth in just the way he likes you."

Samus hated to admit it, but Link was right. She would never tell him this, of course. She had only known Marth for two and a half days, and she already had feelings for him, and it scared her. Samus had never been in a relationship, and she didn't plan on entering one until she felt it was worth her time, and she wasn't sure about this one, no matter how right she knew it felt.

"Well, what about you and Zelda?"

Link gave Samus a wild look, "WHAT?"

This humored the bounty hunter, "Link, don't play stupid with me,"

The Hylian stared as the Samus threw his own words back at him.

"Link, I know more than you think I do about these things," She continued, "and I care for you too... Enough to see that you like Zelda in just the way she likes you."

Link crossed his arms, "She doesn't like me, where do you get that from?"

Samus looked down at her fingers as if what she was saying was old news, "So, you _don't_ deny having feelings for _her_?"

By now Link was choking; Samus was reading him like an open book. How did he manage to make himself so obvious?

Samus gave her friend a good natured pat on the back before retreating back to Marth and Zelda, "Don't worry, it'll be our little secret!" she called back

"Whoa, she turned the tables on me there," Link muttered silently as he adjusted his belt and followed her back to the other two.

Zelda greeted him with a smile as he approached her, "We kind of lost you there for few minutes, you alright?"

Link nodded, "Yeah, just staring at those two over there,"

Zelda cocked her neck to one side to catch a glimpse of Roy and Peach, who were still standing in the corner talking.

"Hmmm," She began, "they do seem to be getting along nicely..."

Link smiled, Cupid's services were no longer needed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bowser and Ganondorf sat quietly in the living room, watching Roy and Peach closely.

"Do you think he likes her?" Ganon asked.

The Koopa King only shrugged, "I don't know. Why do you ask?"

The King of Evil retured the question with a wave of his hand, "I thought you always kidnapped Peach so you could marry her."

"I did," Bowser stated, "but it was for the power and money that would come with it. Gosh, now that I thing about it, I wouldn't mind giving it another go,"

Ganondorf chuckled, "We're a couple of sad, reformed villians I guess,"

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Bowser growled, "And what's with all these questions? You haven't _tried_ anything, have you?"

Ganon's good nature diminished with his friend's accusation, "Quit accusing me! Don't act like you haven't thought about it!"

Bowser looked back over at Peach, "Of course I've thought about it! But what does that have to do with anything?"

Ganondorf crossed his arms, "Nothing really, I just wanted to hear you say it..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's gettting kind of late," Samus warned, as she pointed towards her watch, "we better get to bed."

Zelda nodded, "Yeah we'll see you guys later... Bye Link," the princess gave Link a wave before departing with Samus.

"Bye," Link replied quietly.

He spent a few minutes staring at the two girls leave, completely ignoring his other friend.

Marth cleared his throat to make his presence known.

"Oh, sorry Marth," Link apologized, "I didn't even remember you were here,"

"You sure have your head in the clouds," Marth remarked, slapping his friend on the back.

Link grinned half heartedly, "If you say so..."

Marth, noticing his new friend's sudden retaliation, just changed the subject.

"So," he began inquiringly, "how long have you and Samus been friends?"

Link screwed up his face to indicate he was thinking, "Uh, about five years I think,"

Marth raised his eyebrows, "Wow, so you guys are pretty close, right?"

Link nodded, "Samus was the only one who could bring me back to my senses,"

Marth pursed his lips, "What do you mean by that?"

Link sighed, "I didn't use to be such a nice guy..."

"Really?" Marth asked, egging him to continue.

"Yeah," Link spoke again, "I was a "bad-boy" I guess you could say... And for a long time, Zelda wouldn't even have anything to do with me."

Marth didn't want to seem nosy, but the prospect of Link being a wild guy never really occured to him, but, it facinated him for some reason, "Well, what kind of things did you do?"

Link replied, "Well, nothing illegal, but still just as bad. I was living the wrong kind of life, self-destructive behavior I guess you could call it. If it was repulsive, I've done it. I don't think Zelda really thinks I"ve changed completely, but I feel I have."

Marth thought for a moment, Link really didn't look like that type of guy. The only thing that looked really extreme on him was his two pierced ears, but Marth didn't mind the earings. Plenty of guys had them now.

"And then I was called for Super Smash Bros..." Link continued, "And I came with the same attitude. But, then I met Samus, and she set me straight. Don't ask me how, but she did."

Marth grinned, "I thought you were her boyfriend when I first came here,"

Link only scratched his head, "Well, before Zelda came, me and Samus were inseperable. And of course, there were all kinds of rumors floating around. All of them lies... But it didn't effect us any; we knew the truth and didn't care if anyone else believed us. You can only imagine how awkward it was when Zelda came. She was under the impression that I was secretly in love with Sam,"

Marth swallowed deeply, "Are you?"

The prince expected Link to get angry, but was relieved when the Hylian answered the question calmly.

"No," Link replied, "I don't think I've ever been in love..."

Link's voice trailed off with the lie, but his voice remained steady, convincing the Altean that was the truth. Link only knew too well that Marth and Samus constantly avoided each other to keep the awkwardness out of the friendship, but it wasn't working too well. The couple seemed to think they were hiding their emotions really well... Which, they weren't.

Marth sighed, "I'm sorry if I brought back bad memories... I didn't think you'd ever been like that since I've never heard Roy, Zelda, or Sam talk about anything like that..."

"That's because Roy doesn't know." Link replied, "Samus doesn't hold it against me... and... I hurt Zelda back then, so, she doesn't like to bring up my old nature."

"But," Link added playfully, lightening the mood, "I _do_ know who _you_ love..."

Marth rolled his eyes, certain the elfin swordsman was bluffing, "Who?"

Link's reply came in a low whisper, "Sammy and Marthy sittin' in a tree-"

He was interrupted by a swift jab in the ribs by Marth, "Shut up," the prince protested softly.

Link chuckled, but respected Marth's wishes, "If you say so..."

The two glanced back, Roy was alone; Peach must have went upstairs with Samus and Zelda.

"Guys," he called as he jogged up to them, "wait up!"

The two stopped and let their friend catch up.

"T-thanks, guys..." Roy panted.

"No problem," Marth assured him, "Right now, I'm just really tired."

Roy nodded, "Me too. Let's go,"

The three started to walk silently made their way to the corridor's entrance. Link was surprised that Marth didn't try to bring up Peach as they walked down the familiar hallway, but then again, he figured they all had had enough relationship drama for one day.

As Roy opened the door quietly, Marth thought about what Link told him.

Link had a dark side?

The exiled prince wondered if there was still any bad in Link... He hoped he'd never find out.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the girls' room, Zelda sat on the floor playing a board game with Samus, and Peach lay on her bed with a dazed expression, every so often muttering something inaudible. Peach wanted so bad to cry, but she couldn't; she had made a dumb mistake, and she knew she would have to pay for it.

"Peach," Samus began, "will you please stop sulking and tell us what happened with Roy earlier? We know you're dying to spill."

Zelda just shook her head and rolled the dice, then advanced six spaces, "She'll tell us when she's ready..."

Samus took her turn, "Whatever,"

"We just made a truce... that's all," Peach said, coming out of her trance. There was a hint of regret in her voice, and Zelda figured that wasn't the whole story.

"SHE'S ALIVE!" Samus exclaimed dramaticly, placing a hand over her chest.

Peach rolled her eyes, "Well at least I don't avoid my crush all day!"

Zelda's eyes widened, and she ventured to the far side of the room, not wanting to have anything to do with the scuffle.

"Oh, ho ho!" Samus said loudly, "Well at least my crush actually likes me!"

Zelda wanted to point out that she just called Marth her crush, but decided that she didn't wish to be slapped, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Ooooh, no you didn't!" Peach yelled, grabbing a pillow.

Samus did likewise, "Bring it on!"

Both girls advanced on each other and began to brutally beat each other with... Pillows?

"Take that!" Samus said, bursting out laughing.

"Hahahahaha! Take that!" Peach said, smaking her friend playfully on the head.

The two girls vented their anger out in a pillowfight. And it continued until neither could even lift another cotton-filled sleeping aid.

Zelda just looked on in horror. How in the heck did a heated arguement turn into a pillowfight?

Samus smiled, "Sorry for dissing you, Peach, that was low of me."

"Sorry for bringing up Marth in your face like that..." The Mushroom Princess apologized, as if she was a small child getting a lecture for eating cookies before dinner.

"Awwwwwww!" chorused Zelda as the two girls embraced in an apologetic hug.

Peach chucked a pillow at Zelda playfully, "Quiet Zel, you were too scared to be in the pillowfight!"

"I was not!" Zelda pouted, "You just didn't invite me!"

"Want to join our board game, Peach?" Samus inquired, tossing all the pillows back on the proper bed.

"I'd love to," Peach replied, as if she was being asked to dance.

Zelda laughed, "Sam just wants you to play because I'm winning!"

The three sat down in a small circle around the game, and they all took turns and chattered mindlessly.

"Zelie just lies too much!" Samus said with mock anger.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Zelda asked.

This joke made the three friends burst with laughter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything looked upside down to Roy as his head hung loosely off the side of his bed. Oh yeah, Peach was definately on his mind. In fact, it wasn't that until he looked around, he noticed Link and Marth were doing likewise.

"Marth," Link asked, "what do you usually do for fun when you're bored to death?"

"Actually," the Altean replied, "I go do my hair."

Roy shot him a confused glance, "What the heck that's..."

He paused for a moment.

"-Exactly what I do."

Link nodded and ran a finger through his golden locks, "Yeah, not everyone can have amazing hair like us three..."

"Mmmmmmmmmm-hmmmm," Marth and Roy chorused in unison.

"But our hair is already washed, and we've already taken showers..." Marth said sadly.

"This is pitiful," Link said, an awkward tone to his voice.

The three best friends nodded in agreement with the statement.

"Whoa," Marth began, "Do you think anybody will think us weird if we told them we like to spend a lot of time on our hair?"

"Nah," Roy said, "It's completely natural... right?"

"Whatever," Link stated distractedly.

"Anything interesting happen today?" Marth asked Roy.

"Uh, no... You?"

"Nah," the prince replied, before turning to Link, "How about you?"

"Well," Link began, "I think I'm in love,"

Following this, there was a weird silence.

_I wonder who he is talking about... _Roy thought, _Oh no, maybe he's talking about Peach. Maybe that's why she declined when I asked her out earlier..._

These thoughts raced through Roy's mind as silence crept over the three once more.

Yes, he had indeed asked her out, but she turned him down.

FLASHBACK

_After Roy shook hands with Peach to seal the agreement of truce, he felt a sudden weight lift off his shoulders._

_"U-um, P-Peach," Roy studdered, "I was just wondering if you were maybe free this weekend we could... see a movie or-"_

_The Mushroom Princess felt butterflies go wild in her stomach. Was this real? Was Roy really asking her out? _

_Roy looked down at his feet. Why was it taking her this long to answer. He was begining to lose confidence._

_SAY YES! Peach's head rung with that going through it. THAT'S WHOLE REASON OF LINK EVEN HELPING YOU! THIS IS WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO HEAR FROM HIM, SAY YES!_

_"No," Peach blurted out, and ran to catch up with Samus and Zelda, who were going to their room._

_Roy just stood there, gaping. He thought for sure there were tears in his eyes, but he quickly made it look as if he was just scratching his eyes when Marth and Link looked his way._

_It was as if Roy was glued to his spot. He stood there, completely dumbfounded, he had finally gotten the courage to ask, and he crashed and burned. He finally was able to walk towards his friends, Peach's rejection fresh in his mind._

END FLASHBACK

He had no idea why Peach rejected him. He had been sure the princess liked him too, but, apparently she didn't. Then Link came into the picture. The guy was one of Roy's best friends... If Link and Peach did have something going on together, then that was competition.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Roy asked Peach out? Why did she decline? Why does Roy think Link is in love with Peach? Why am I asking all these questions? Maybe you'll find out next chapter! Did I just ruin the Zelink? I hope not... Though, I DO hope everyone liked it! I give my thanks to Royal Kenya, Black Light Princess, Babykoalaprincess, crystalicios, RoyalFanatic, and of course, BlueShootinStar1.**

**I know BlueShootinStar1 didn't review for Chapter 2, but I love her story, so, it's all good. "Lay Off My Guy!" is finished! Bravo, RK! "Saving My Valentine's Day" has also celebrated it's grand finale! Yay Black Light Princess! I read "Crystal Shard" by RoyalFanatic, and I must say it was very lovely. Again, congrats to RK for "My Smile Is Yours", the prolouge reached 9 reviews! (claps)**

**Oh, this is a death threat to Babykoalaprincess... Ahem, "UPDATE... OR ELSE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

**Well, that's it for Chapter 3, read and review if you liked it! (You know you want to!) Flames are accepted, but not appreciated. Be wary, though, I have a loooong background in flame fighting! Yay again! Maybe something actually interesting will happen in this story. Keep looking out for it if you love it!**

-SoDH


	4. Double Edged Sword

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 4: Double Edged Sword

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dark storm clouds loomed over the Smash Mansion as all it's inhabitants sat in dead silence eating their breakfast. Link sat on the couch stroking a very restless Pichu, who sat in his lap. The rain that was about to pour from the sky would just add to the gloom between a certain group of six. If you were just able to onlook all of their problems, you would see love, heartbreak, and hidden feelings. A combination that most don't find very pleasant.

"It's okay," Link assured Pichu as the pokemon shifted uncomfotably, "it's just a little gloomy outside,"

Pichu still wasn't convinced and scampered all over the couch, occasionaly lifting a ear to listen for thunder. Her yellow and light brown fur stood on end and her small body shivered with fright. Link had no idea where the others were, but Roy had been acting weird all morning, and Peach wasn't very different. The two had avoided each other, which was odd, because they were getting along fine yesterday. Link inhaled deeply, thinking of his own problems. He couldn't really say he had any. Everything was going pretty good for him right now, his head was clear, and so was just about every other aspect of his life. Except for her.

Zelda.

The name seemed to be on his mind more than usual lately. It was almost nerve-racking. It was as if he was a prisoner of his own feelings. Then he thought of Peach. What had she talked to Roy about yesterday? Why were the two avoiding each other? It was almost like a revolving door, the closer she got the the end of heartbreak, the faster the door came back up behind her.

"What do you suppose is wrong with them?" he asked Pichu.

The rat-like pokemon just looked up at him with a blank glance, "Pi?"

Link sighed and leaned back further in his seat, "That's right," he remembered, "you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Pichu shook her head and Link just laughed to himself. Marth and Samus were **always** avoiding each other, so, that was nothing new. He wished the two would just get over themselves and tell the truth. It was fairly obvious they were crazy over each other. Link glanced around the room, the only place anyone seemed to be right now was the kitchen.

"Do you think Zelda is going to start avoiding _me_?" he asked Pichu, as he grinned to indicate his was joking whilestroking her affectionately behind the ears.

"Pichu pi pi!" Pichu replied, cuddling up beside a couch cushion. She let out a almost inaudible sigh and closed her eyes.

Link smiled, "I hope not too,"

Link didn't really know how he could understand what Pichu was saying, you just had to pay attention to her facial expressions, and the emphasis she placed on her words. It sounded like a science, but, truly, it was pretty easy once you got to know the little pokemon. Link sat upright and crossed his legs. He stared a moment at the floor carpet, as if it had some answer stitched in the rough cloth. He didn't even know the question he needed an answer to.

A boom of thunder sounded and Pichu let out a yelp and hid behind Link. The hero reached behind his back and tried to get anxious pokemon from behind him, who was sent panicing from the loud crack of thunder.

"It's okay," Link coaxed Pichu sweetly, "I'm here. Come on, come from behind me."

Pichu reluctantly emerged from behind the Hylian and made her a comfortable spot in his lap.

"Now, was that so bad?" Link asked Pichu once she was situated.

Pichu shook her head and smiled at something toward the right of Link. He followed her smile to see the Princess of Hyrule make her way over to the pair. Link's heart silenty leapt at the sight of one of his best friends. Wearing her usual attire, her blonde hair flowed freely as she walked over to him.

"Hi Zel," Link said as she sat down beside him.

"Hi Link!" she said cheerily, giving him a warm smirk. The one that lifted his spirits, no matter what he had been through before that.

"Pichu pi!" the pokemon fussed from lack of attention.

"Hey to you too, Pichu," Zelda stated as she rubbed Pichu on the head gently.

Satisfied with this, Pichu jumped out of Link's lap and onto Zelda's shoulders.

The Hero of Time crossed his arms, "You took my buddy... that's mean!" he whined with mock hurt.

Zelda chuckled, "No I didn't, she came to _me_!"

Link gave her a playful push and she just smiled. It seemed to brighten his mood when she did that. But, then they say happiness is like a fatal illness, it just spreads around.

Zelda grinned, "How were you able to get through these five years without me?" she asked jokingly.

Link shrugged, "Just by luck, I guess,"

Pichu smiled and jumped out of Zelda's arms, scampering towards Samus on the other side of the room.

"What's up?" the bounty hunter asked the pokemon as she fell in line beside her.

"Pichu!" the small creature cried as she led Samus back toward the couch where Link and Zelda sat together.

"Nice to finally see you Sam," Link said from his seat as his friend squeezed in beside him.

Samus smiled at Link once she had taken her seat, "Did you think about what I said yesterday?"

Link looked horror stricken.

"What did you say yesterday?" Zelda inquired, interest rising. She laid her hands neatly in her lap.

"Oh, nothing!" Link said quickly, "We were just talking!"

He didn't dare tell the princess of Samus' advice. He got weak in the knees just picturing telling Zelda how he really felt. And when he thought about it, he felt like he was keeping some dirty little secret from the world.

Samus laughed, "Yeah, were were just talking,"

"Pichu pi?" Pichu asked, pulling the cutest confused face you've ever seen.

Link patted her on the head, "Don't worry about it," he told the animal, "nothing for anybody but me to worry about."

Link knew he would have to come clean some time, and to be truthful, he wanted to, but he didn't feel it was the right time. It was... complicated, it's not like he could just tell her. He scanned the room slowly, it wasn't a laughing matter. He knew his dilemma would catch up with him some time. It seemed to always want to nag him. He sometimes wanted to pull out his hair from frustration. Though the anger was always directed at himself. He had nobody else to be angry at. And to be truthful, his past with Zelda wasn't the best.

When Link returned back to Earth, Samus was still grinning. Almost mockingly. The swordsman didn't think he'd be able to get rid of that picture for a while. But the more he saw it, the less mocking it looked. It quickly turned to a warning.

"I'll see you two later," she said as she got up, "and don't forget about what I said, Link,"

The Hylian took this piece of advice seriously and nodded towards his friend as she disappeared into the kitchen. His eyes shot down to his nails, as if they had just became the most interesting things in the world.

"You know I'm going to find out what you guys are keeping from me," Zelda stated, slightly humored. She pushed a strand of blonde hair from in front of her eyes and looked over to Link for his reply.

"I hope so," Link muttered inaudibly as he scratched his head. He hoped she hadn't heard.

She remined silent, so, Link figured that his hope was correct. She looked straight in front of her, her blue eyes seemed to be filled with thought. His eyes found the pathway she was gazing down, and he looked too, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. He was relieved when Zelda turned back to him.

"Well," there was a hint of boredom in her voice, "do you want to take a walk or something?"

Link shot her a inquiring glance as he rested his elbows on his knees and proped his chin up in the palm of his hand, "Uh, Zelda, it's raining outside..."

Zelda turned a deep scarlet, "Oh yeah... I forgot, sorry..."

Link's face remained expressionless, "Well, we could always walk around the mansion and find Marth, Roy, and Peach..." he said, getting up from his seat and offering her his hand.

Zelda excepted the hand and Link helped her off of the couch, and Pichu followed close behind.

"You know that wasn't nessasary," Zelda said quietly, crossing her arms and glancing over at her friend.

Link got a bit fidgety, "Well, yeah, I was just being polite..."

He and Zelda were walking down the corridor, towards her room. Link played with the hems of his strong leather gauntlets. What problem could she possibly have against being polite? It's not like he was uncivilized or something. The silence was murder, though, he just hoped that by helping her off the couch he didn't offend her or anything. That was the last thing he needed. Or, that small chance that she joined Samus' feminist group... Oh, gosh, not the feminist group.

_Now isn't the time for lame humor, _he said quietly to himself, _Samus doesn't even have a feminist group..._

"Well, thank you," Zelda stated, the warm smile returning to her face, making Link sigh in relief.

Link grinned and stooped down to pick Pichu up in his arms as she make herself comfortable once more, "You're welcome."

After it was all said and done, he no longer felt that he and Zelda were on the brink of fighting. They were just old friends. They had been that since the age of ten, before the hero even thought about anyone romanticaly. That simple age of ten where all you had to worry about was bullies.

"You okay?" Zelda asked, seeing his concentrated glare at the ground.

Link nodded, but that didn't convince the princess. They had become so distant over the last couple of days. The two Hylians approached Zelda's door, and knocked softly on it, waiting to see if Peach had went back to the room after breakfast.

The door opened and Peach stood at the door in her pajamas, clutching another magazine. Her eyes were blood-shot, and she looked irritated at some unknown force.

"Uh, Peach," the other princess began, "what are you doing in you nightclothes? You were dressed earlier..."

Peach inhaled deeply, "I didn't feel like staying up, so I just came back to the room and started to read,"

Zelda smiled sadly, "Peach, when are you going to tell me what happened yesterday?"

Link looked up from the floor at the mention of yesterday's events, "Why? Are you upset about something, Peach?"

The Mushroom Princess sighed, "Zel, I don't really want to talk about it,"

And the truth was she didn't. How could Zelda possibly know what it felt like to make a mistake? She kept to herself, not wanting to get hurt, even though Zelda had never mentioned getting hurt by anyone. She wasn't the one who turned down a date offer from Roy from no reason.

Roy.

She figured the general never wanted to speak to her again. And she wouldn't blame him. She wouldn't want to talk to herself after what she said to him either.

"Well, you're going to have talk about it sometime, anyway." Zelda said bluntly, crossing her arms, and looking over to Link for support.

Link just stood there. Zelda had no idea how much he agreed with her, but with the mood she was in, he didn't feel like cutting Peach down. He was sure the princess had an explaination for her odd behavior. Roy must have one too.

Though, Link wasn't sure if he even wanted to know anymore. After all Peach had been through a good bit to get on good terms with Roy, there had to be some crisis to tear the two apart.

Peach hung her head, the magazine still clutched in her hands, "I know," she said finally, "but I don't feel up to it right now..."

Zelda got rid of her stern face and patted her friend comforting on her back, "Take all the time you need," the Hylian said quietly.

Link finally got the nerve to speak up.

"Well," he began, "just let us know when you're ready; I'll be happy to help."

Peach knew Link wouldn't mind, but she had to draw the line. She realized that Link was sacrificing all of his leisure time to deal with her problems, and it wasn't right.

"No, Link," Peach said, "you're sweet, but I think I need a girl's point of view on this one,"

Link knew this wasn't the real reason, but, he nodded anyway.

"Do you want to get dressed and come with us?" Zelda asked, "we were going to find Roy and Marth; Sam is in the kitchen."

Peach flinched at the pyro swordsman's name, but replied with the best smile she could muster,

"Sure," She answered, "just give me a few minutes,"

Zelda smiled, "We'll be waiting right here when you finish,"

Link nodded to second the notion, and Peach closed the door. He wondered about Peach too, but he decided to let her go her own way after her and Roy's little confrontation yesterday.

Zelda leaned against the wall and stared at her room door, "I'm worried about her," she said softly.

"Don't be." Link replied, "Peach'll tell you what's wrong when she's ready,"

Zelda's eyes shot up and met Link's, surprised that he had heard her.

"I know," she answered, "but it still doesn't help me any. I hate to see her all depressed like this,"

Link gazed up at the ceiling, "Neither do I, but you'll just have to wait until she's comfortable talking to you about her problem, then you can help her."

Zelda knew Link was right. Sometimes she thought that Link would make a better Sage of Wisdom than her. But, courage was Link's dominant trait. Zelda remembered their second battle with Ganondorf. She had been scared for him, every heavy, blunt blow he took from Ganon's huge lightning fast blades made her scream. And she wasn't even the one fighting. Yes, wisdom was definately her dominant trait.

Zelda sighed, "Thanks, I don't want to make her feel forced,"

The Hero of Time looked back down at his feet, "Exactly, that would just drive her away."

Zelda was about to say something else when Peach opened the door to her room and walked out to greet her two friends.

"C'mon," Zelda said to Peach as she grabbed her hand, "let's go find the others."

Link wondered as he walked the opposite direction down the long corridor why they were even getting Marth, Roy, and Samus. They couldn't do anything together, because the rain had decided to pour down from the sky, which was a ominous dark grey.

The weather was oddly reflecting his mood. He had nothing to be down about, but, he just didn't feel like today was going to go too well. It drove him crazy, because he was constantly absorbed in his own thoughts instead of paying attention to what was going on around him. Link once again rounded the corner, the two princesses in the front slightly ahead of him, chatting about something he couldn't quite hear.

Zelda was just chatting with Peach about something she had read, and the Mushroom Princess was half listening. She was too busy being overcame with pained rage at herself for turning Roy down yesterday. She had no idea what she was thinking. It was as if some outside force was squeezing her heart until she couldn't even think of loving anyone. She almost grabbed her chest in pain, until she realized she was just reliving that painful moment until it seemed real again. She almost felt like crawling back to her room and cuddling against a pillow for warmth, for it seemed that she would never feel welcome or loved. Not that she deserved it.

Then she thought maybe she thought she should stop beating herself up. It was just a mistake, right? A harmless mistake that wouldn't hurt anyone. Wrong. She didn't know what was worse, having Roy angry at her, or knowing she hurt the swordsman. If he even still cared, of course.

"Peach, are you listening to me?"

Zelda's voice snapped Peach out of her trance and she looked up at her friend, "Uh..."

The Princess was at a loss for words. She hadn't been listening, and she was almost sentimental. It agrivated her when Zelda would zone out and shrug off what she had said, but now Peach understood that the world didn't revolve around her. A certain pyro swordsman had taught her that. Unknowingly, of course, but still... it was a lesson she wouldn't forget. She almost smiled thinking of him. It was comforting to think of his facial expressions as she pitured them in her mind. Sure it was weird, but could you blame her? It wasn't like it was some sort of crush type thing. It was that person that she had always tortured for fear of being discovered and loved for who she was, he was the only one she would ever want.

It sounded foolish, but it was true. She was only eighteen, but deep in her heart, beyond the thoughts of all other guys she had seen, he was still the only one she kept close. His lame humor, his zany attitude, his smile... every fiber of his being enticed her. She wished she could just freeze to their conversation and give him the true answer, the answer only Roy deserved. But did _she_ deserve the chance?

Peach convinced herself that all hope was lost for her and Roy. She didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't help it; she saw the shock in his face. She recalled the salty tears running down her face, the exact ones she hid from Samus and Zelda.

"Uh," Peach repeated finally, "No. I was... thinking. Sorry,"

Zelda crossed her arms and looked over to Link, who had Pichu on his shoulders, "It's okay," she assured Peach, "I can't keep you from your thoughts,"

Link stared again as the three of them entered the kitchen, he couldn't help but notice the two girls hadn't spoken since Zelda had made her remark. It had only been thirty seconds, but it felt like centuries. He sped up his pace slightly to catch up with the two princesses, Pichu still clinging to his shoulder.

He fell in line beside them, and they walked over to Samus, whom they spotted sitting with Roy. Link saw that Peach's eyes immediately filled with horror.

Roy quickly looked away and stared down at the table, as if something interesting suddenly caught his attention. Samus rested her elbows on the table and looked over to Link, Zelda, and Peach. She saw the Mushroom Princess with a very concentrated expression on her face, and Zelda just sat down across from her, Link following her soon after.

Peach just stood there as if contemplating whether to sit down or not. Roy laid his head down on the table and didn't look back up. He needed to think, and with her standing there he wasn't getting anywhere. The rain, which had started to pound down loudly on the roof ceased to stop, and the thought of her drove him crazy. She didn't love him, it was done, over with... So why couldn't her forget about her and make things normal again?

Maybe things weren't supposed to go back to the way they were, maybe he was supposed to be a prisoner of her gaze.

No.

He couldn't think that, there had to be hope, if only just a little bit. Roy reluctantly lifted his head up from the table and avoided Peach's glaces as acurately as possible. Link and Zelda had seated themselves across from Samus and were already chatting quietly, ignoring Roy completely. And Peach just stood there, looking nervously up at the ceiling as if she would catch fire if she dared to look down.

She tried to think of a good excuse to make.

"Uh, I-I have to go," she stammered, silently backing away from her friends, a huge knot developing in her throat, "S-see you l-later..."

And with that, the quickening click of heels against tile floor broke the humid silence as she raced out onto the porch. Roy stood there, still trying to sort out what happened. Not that he thought she would come running to him, he just didn't think a task that ripped his heart to pieces would take less thought procces than tying a shoe. Was it that he didn't deserve a second chance? Was he not good enough for_ Her Highness_?

Roy knew Peach could be a bit snobbish at times, but he really didn't think that she looked down on him or anything. Then again, he was wrong about lots of things. Like the thought that someone could actually love him.

"Uh, Roy... Are you okay?"

Roy barely acknowledged a bounty hunter's question. His mind was running a relay race, and he didn't feel like talking.

The pyro swordsman gently nodded his head as an answer to Samus' question, but then slammed it back on the table to continue sulking. That had to be it:

He wasn't worthy of being loved.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peach stumbled outside onto the porch's banister and started to bawl her eyes out. She didn't notice a certain prince staring at her out of the corner of his eye.

Marth placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Is there something wrong?" he asked trying to figure out what had the princess so distressed.

Peach wanted nothing more than to bite his head off. Why was everyone so interested in her life? Why couldn't they leave her be?

"Leave me alone." she said angrily through sobs of pain. The rain pounded on the ground mere feet away from her.

Marth paid no attention to her plead.

"I'm not leaving until you talk to me," he said bluntly, removing his hand from her shoulder. He didn't know what could be going through her head. It's not like he had anything better to do.

"Well, you'll be sitting here a long time!" Peach snapped, "Link has already done enough!"

That statement contained more venom that she wanted, but she didn't care at the moment. Everyone thought they could fix her, but she couldn't be fixed. It was her own fault and mistake. Now, Roy hated her, and she didn't blame him. And in return, figured that if Roy was determined, HE would speak up and tell her off like she wanted him to. Love was a weird emotion. It made you act exactly the way you don't want to.

It made you say things you didn't mean, and sometimes, not say anything at all.

Marth finally spoke up.

"Hey, I didn't ask you to come out here, it's pouring rain. I came out here to think. And what does Link have to do with this?"

Peach managed to stop crying enough to answer.

"It's none of your business," she said softly, wiping her eyes on the back of her gloved hand. Runny, black maskara ran down in a trail to her bare elbows.

Marth just stared at her and shook his head sadly.

"You're not the person I thought you were."

Peach's head snapped up to the prince, "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked angrily.

"You and Roy need to work out your issues," he said flatly, crossing his arms.

Peach's jaw dropped thirty feet, "B-but ho-how did y-you kn-know...?" she studdered.

Marth huffed at her question, "Pa-lease! You two are the most obvious pair of twits I've ever seen!"

Peach was getting crosser by the minute. Roy must have said something to Marth... Did that mean he told Link too?

She had to find out.

"So," Peach began, finally mustering the courage she needed to ask her question, "He told you that he asked me out yesterday?"

The Altean Prince nearly choked, "H-he asked you out?" he asked, dumbfounded that Roy wouldn't mention something like that to him.

Peach turned a deep scarlet after realizing she had let her secret slip to Marth. She immediately realized that Roy and not told a soul, unlike her. "Uh, no! I just tripped on a few words, and...!"

Marth now was wearing a look of sympathy, "Then, why are you crying out here?" he asked, trying his best not to act like he was prying into her life. He had wanted to know why they had been acting so strangely. Now that he knew, he wasn't so sure he wanted to anymore.

Peach couldn't take it. She had made the biggest mistake of turning Roy down, and now Marth knew... All out of her stupidity.

Marth noticed the hurt expression on Peach's face, and his thoughts disolved immediately.

"What's wrong? If you two are a couple now, then why are you so sad?"

Peach's head hung lower, if that was even possible. And Marth heard something mumbled from the cool metalic bainster.

He hunched down lower toward the princess' face, trying to see if he could hear her statement better.

"Can you repeat that?" he asked, wondering what Peach could possibly be this sad over.

"I turned him down..." she said. If Marth could see her face, fresh tears would already be falling freely from her big blue eyes.

The Altean's eyes widened, but his expression remained the same. Peach made the mistake of looking back up at him, and saw the pity in his face.

"Please," she pleaded with all the emotional strength she could muster, "don't make this any harder on me than it already is,"

_I can tell she regrets turning him down, but she probably wouldn't want me to meddle in her business, I best just let them work it out. If it is meant to be, then it will happen, no help from anyone else, _Marth thought, confident that this was the wisest descision. It pained him to see Peach in this state. But, at least the one she loved showed feelings back, unlike his situation.

After not hearing a reply from the prince, Peach dropped the conversation. Her throat burned from having to talk about her raging problem. She didn't even want to talk to anyone period.

It was a while before Marth spoke again.

"At least you were given the _chance_ to love," he said mournfully as he shifted his feet uncomfortably, scraping against the sturdy wood foundation of the porch, soaked from the still pouring rain.

Peach had no clue as to what he was talking about. She thought the answer was there in the back of her mind somewhere, but at the present time she didn't have anything else on her mind except for her mistake, and the sheet of rain that pounded from the sky as tears did from her eyes.

She looked at Marth who had pain written clearly across his face. He needed help too, but it wasn't her place to offer it. After all, she couldn't even take care of herself, much less somebody else.

"It's worse on the other when you turn them down," Peach said sternly, hot tears still falling freely from her face.

Marth rubbed his nose and sniffed a few times before replying.

"My love," he began, "-does not feel the same way for me as I do her, you have no idea how much that hurts. She could do without my affection."

Peach looked up at Marth, "Have you told her how you feel?" she asked, "If not, then you cannot blame her for not being able to read your mind,"

The prince pondered her statement for a few moments, wondering if there was some way that she didn't know.

"I've dropped enough hints," he said sternly, crossing his arms and making up his mind, "If she does not acknowledge my feelings now, she never will,"

Then, Peach's memories hit her like a tidal wave. Samus, with the white flower weaved through her pale blonde locks, her awkward gazes at Marth...

Now she remembered exactly who he was talking about.

"What if I told you she feels the same way of you?" Peach asked her friend, her wide blue eyes piercing into his azure ones.

Marth finally replied, a great weight lifting off his chest, it felt as if he had had the best rest in a long time.

"I would ask you," he finally said, "-if you were telling the truth."

Peach straightened her posture, a small smile playing on the side of her lips.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do you think she's okay?" Zelda asked Link, who was still sitting beside her, "She's been out there an awful long time,"

Link pulled off his long Kokiri hat and ran a slender hand through his blonde locks, "I'm sure she's fine," he assured the princess, "the only other person out there is Marth."

Zelda looked around the room for a few moments before nodding her heart-shaped head, "I guess you're right, sometimes I worry too much,"

The Hero of Time placed his hat back on his head and subconsciencely scooted closer to her, "And that's why I like you so much, you're caring..."

The princess turned a deep shade of scarlet and averted her eyes from Link, "Y-You?" she questioned, now studdering from embarrassment, "That's why 'you' like me so much?"

Link blushed as furiously as Zelda had, "Uh! I meant 'we'! Yeah, I mean we!" he corrected himself quickly, twidling his thumbs nervously and giving her a innocent grin.

There was a deep grunt and the two Hylians looked over to Samus who was giving them a mischevious smile, a small fire lighting in her emerald eyes.

"Are you two alright over there?"

Link rubbed his neck and grinned sheepishly, "Uh, yeah! We're fine!" he lied.

_You idiot! _he scolded himself mentally, _Why did you blurt that out to Zelda! Learn to think before you speak!_

Roy shot all three of them a quizzical look from across Samus and shrugged his lean, slightly muscled shoulders. Hey, with the lot of them, no telling what sort of inside joke he was missing out on.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peach gave her eyes a final wipe before heading into the house, Marth following close behind, the rain coming to a stop as the door closed, blocking the wind and cool air from entering.

The prince thought about Peach's words to him.

Could she be telling the truth? Or, was she just humoring him to make him feel better? These were questions he couldn't answer. But, the more he thought of it, the more clear the answer he _wanted _was.

Peach reluctantly walked off to a random room off to the side, seeing Roy still seated at his spot at the table. She scolded herself bigtime for not listening to Marth's advice, but she couldn't help it. She needed to go somewhere to think.

The blue haired swordsman just watched as the princess' slender figure disappeared behind the conference room's door.

He shook his head slowly.

"That's a shame, isn't it?"

Marth sighed and turned around to face the newcomer.

"Falcon, with all due respect," he began to the F-Zero pilot, "I don't feel like conversing with anyone right now,"

The Captain expression remained neutral as he smirked.

"Not even for Peach's sake?"

Falcon knew at the mention of his friend's name, Marth would quit being dificult and listen.

The prince gave his friend a stern glare, then, gestured for him to continue. Captain Falcon's eyes lingered on Marth's expression for a moment, then he quicky shoved his hands into his pockets and rummaged through them.

_What could he possibly know about the conversation the princess and I had outside? Was he evesdropping? How rude! If I find he has learned any of our secrets, I...!_

"Ah-ha!" Falcon cried, apparently finding the object he was looking for, breaking Marth from his thoughts.

"I found it!" he said, grinning with satisfaction, _It was all falling into place... _

"Give me your hand," Falcon commanded in a cool, soft voice.

Marth gave him a discreet quizzical look but obeyed. The race hero slipped a small round object with a green jewel in the middle into Marth's open palm.

The blue haired Altean fingered itbetween his thumb and index fingeras light glinted of the green, almost blinding him.

"Is this... a man earring!" Marth said in a loud, offended tone, "What the heck are you giving me this for?"

Captain Falcon smiled, and the prince instantly felt uneasy, "Just tell Roy to give it to Peach. Trust me, it will help them out with their little... dilemma. This would mean a lot to Peach, and coming from Roy..."

Falcon became silent as if expecting the swordsman to fill in the blanks.

Marth exhaled, _So, that's all, he wants me to tell Roy to present this to Peach... Still, I wonder why he would want Roy to give her a man's earring. Should I...? _

He contemplated this for a few moments.

Should he trust the cocky F-Zero pilot with something as fragile as Peach and Roy's relationship, or should he doubt his new friend?

If he went with his gut and didn't pass on the ear decoration, then he might mess up Roy's second chance at Peach. Not to mention he had no idea of the earrings origins, or how it would help his friends.

On the plus side, this could have some special meaning to Peach, and Falcon just wanted to help out. He didn't know how in the world a man's earring would mean anything to Peach, but he had only know the princess for two and a half days.

What could possibly go wrong?

These thoughts ate away at his head like ravenous vultures on a mutilated carcass.

Marth stared at Falcon for a few moments, the innocent grin still hanging from his face...

Either choice was a double edged sword, waiting to turn it's back on him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ya! You see I've finally updated! I'm so sorry if I'm cofusing a lot of you people with the characters finding so much comfort towards each other. But what's with the man earring?

I strongly believe in friends bonding, it's a good way to strengthen the friendship. Though, keep in mind I do understand the boundary between friends and soulmates, yada, yada, yada... I think there was a bit of confusion in that last chapter

Don't worry, by the time this story is over, I think everyone will be happy. I am also sorry we are not getting to any REAL action, but give me time. If you are impatient and bored as I am, flame me for my story, I don't bite. I want honest opinions on my work.

Don't sugar coat it if you think it is horrible. I know I have grammatical errors in there somewhere, and if you want to point them out feel free.

But, if you honestly liked it, then mention it! I am hoping to get to the 'meat and potatoes' soon, so just hold on, fans! (If there are any...) Thank you to all who reviewed! You have no idea how much it means to me! I know this was mainly about Marth and Peach, except for that little Zelda and Link moment. Which, I tried to make as sweet as possible, even though... Oops! I can't reveal anything just yet! Review if you liked it!

-Sage


	5. Without a Doubt

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 5: Without a Doubt

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marth sat on the steps, still staring at the green earring he held in the palm of his hand. The beautiful green glint was gone from it, for the sun had sunk under the horizon and the moon was now it its place. Falcon's words still played in his mind. The moon was a huge cresent hanging in the sky, and stars glinted brilliantly like a million pieces of glass. Then as he held the earring in the right spot, he could see the light reflecting off of it.

"To listen, or not to listen..." Marth muttered almost inaudibly. A little dramatically, but not uncalled for, regarding the situation he was faced with.

He hugged his knees close to him and let out a deep, long sigh. He didn't know what to do. One mess up, and it could cost Roy and Peach everything. Falcon had an odd glint in his eye, and it made the blue haired prince feel uncomfortable.

Marth had a way of being able to see people as they really were. Though, he pretended to be confused most of the time, even though he could read them like an open book.

That was his downfall of course. For example, he felt that deep inside Samus' cold heart, that she really didn't hate him as she made it seem. He knew he didn't hate her, that was for sure. Quite the opposite in fact; he adored the bounty hunter. And sometimes he wished that she would feel the same way. Though, she had made it pretty clear last time they talked about such matters to each other.

Marth knew very well how to flatter women, having done it many times before. But, something was different about Samus, he knew he would have nothing to gain from complimenting her... Except a smack in the face, but he wouldn't care.

If for a few moments if Samus saw him as more than just a friend, it would satisfy him more than gaining from her personally with flattery. Marth didn't care how cold she came off to most people, he knew she secretly cared for every one of her friends, whether she made it publicly known or not. He would sometimes wonder if he was on that list. He had only known her for three days, and yet he sensed a bond with her.

_Idiot, there is no bond, she's way out of your reach!_

That was the sound of his own mind taunting him. And it was driving him crazy, he felt like banging his head against a brick wall.

Marth's gaze went down to his feet, and he stared at a small drop of water on the steps left over from the storm. He looked back down at the small piece of jewelry still in his hand. It was just so confusing. And these thoughts mixed in with his feelings for a certain bounty hunter didn't help his conflict. It was just so frustrating!

He would have to give this matter more thought later.

Marth pocketed the earring, on the way back up to his knees, his hand lingered in midair. Blue eyes focused on a small source of light. A small lightning bug was flying towards him.

The Altean remained perfectly still as the small bug stupidly flew into the palm of his hand. He made sure the bug was perfectly in his grasp's way before trapping it. In one swift motion, his hand snapped closed around the small ball of light.

Marth let a faint grin tug along the sides of his mouth before standing slowly to his feet. His legs were oddly sore.

'_Probably from sitting here all day,' _he thought, slightly humored, _'After all, I don't even really remember how long I've been out here._'

He looked down at the hand housing the lightning bug, yellow light seeping through the small gaps between his fingers.

Marth turned to the door of the Smash Mansion and tightly gripped the brass handle of the door and opened it.

A rush of warm air blew out at him as he stepped in the door, lighning bug still clutched in his left hand. Link, Zelda, Samus and Roy were sitting at the table exactly as they had been this morning.

"Hey, Marth!" Zelda said brightly as she saw him approaching, giving him a warm smile, "Are you feeling better?"

The Altean quickly shoved the hand with the bug into his pocket, "Yes, much better. Thank you for your concern, Zelda."

The princess nodded, but couldn't help buy wonder why her friend looked so troubled. Everyone seemed to be acting odd today. First Roy, then Peach... now Marth. It seemed that Link, Samus and herself were the only ones not bothered by anything. She wished she could help, but unless they told her what was wrong, she couldn't do anything for them.

"You alright, Zel?" Roy asked, a couple of seats away, concern gripping him.

"Oh, I'm just fine," the Hylian replied cheerily, saying it more to everyone in the room than just to Roy. Zelda folded her hands and laid them gently on the table in front of her, as if to confirm her statement.

"If you say so..." Roy shrugged, burrying his face once more in his arms.

Zelda partially ignored Roy's last statement, and looked around to see if Marth had left. Not being able to find the newcomer, she lowered her gaze to the floor. She saw Pichu, chasing Yoshi around, apparently over some type of food. This sight made the blonde chuckle silently to herself.

"Yoshiiiiiiii!" the dinosaur sang happily to himself, out of Pichu's reach.

The indignant pokemon's cheeks started to develop static around them as she panted with exertion trying to catch up.

"Piiiiiiiii!" Pichu exclaimed as a long string of electricity shot out of a couple of bright red patches on her cheeks straight to the unfortunate dinosaur that provoked her.

By the time the smoke cleared, Zelda saw that Yoshi's scaly skin was charred and burnt in several places, and he looked like he was about to cry. She was torn between disappointment towards Pichu and sympathy towards Yoshi.

"Pichu!" Zelda scolded, shocked that the usually peaceful Pichu would resort to such drastic measures for a snack, which appeared to be chocolate of some sort. The pokemon smiled at Zelda, proud of its accomplishment. The princess tried to look away; if she saw the pokemon happy, then she would have no choice but to accept what it had done.

'_I am so soft,' _She figured mentally,_ 'Especially when it involves cute little pokemon_...

Zelda tried to think of something corrective to say to Pichu, but all that came out was, "..."

The pokemon only smiled sweetly after Zelda's prolonged silence and scampered off, completely forgetting about the candy that she had electricuted Yoshi to get.

Zelda sighed and got up from her seat and kneeled beside Yoshi.

"Are you alright?" She asked, patting the small dino on his side comfortingly.

Dazed, Yoshi's eyes flickered open and turned odd ways in their sockets as he stumbled almost drunkenly to his feet and out of sight. Zelda could hear a fit of laughter from behind as she turned in the opposite direction to see Peach, who was standing outside of the small room she had went into shortly after she had returned inside from her meeting with Marth.

"Hi Peach!" The Hylian said happily, standing up to face her friend, who was only a few feet away. The other princess mearly nodded, shielding her face from Zelda so she wouldn't see how red it was, grinning broadly. It was a total transformation from all the weird eye contact and crying lately from the other Peach.

The laughing had attracted the attention of Samus, Link and Roy also, who turned around in their seats to see the tomato-faced Mushroom princess, shaking violently from merriment.

_'Well, someone's happy...' _Link thought as he watched Peach get red faced from laughter.

_'I think she took a little too much happy pills, Burnt dinosaur isn't THAT funny...' _Samus' mind flew with phrases similar to this.

Roy hadn't even thought anything, he just allowed his eyes to stray away from the dreary dark brown of the table to allow himself a look at the Mushroom Princess.

"Pichu... candy... Yoshi!" Peach managed to say through booming laughs.

Roy just sat transfixed, staring at her as if this was the last time he would see her. Which, in his mind, wasn't too far from the truth. Her laughing over small things reminded him of a child. He almost smiled.

_'I can't take this anymore, if I don't talk to her soon I'll go completely insane... Yes, I WILL talk to her...' _He decided.

Peach's laughter had come to a gradual stop, and she was conversing with Zelda on some unknown topic, and Samus and Link were talking about battle stats. Roy's mind ached to talk to Peach.

He hated avoiding people with a passion. It made you seem so vulnerable, so... _afraid_ to speak to someone. So what if he got denied? It wasn't like he and Peach couldn't still be friends. That's when he relized it. He wasn't devestated because of the rejection, it was because he didn't speak to her afterwards. She could go back to hating his guts if she wanted to, just as long as they could at least talk to each other.

Even if it was just a narrow-minded insult...

Besides, he doubted he still had feelings for her anyway. Though, the butterflies going through his stomach were just screaming "Liar!". It was enought to send someone over the edge, enough to drive your head through the wall. The ringing of his head against the hard wall would be a welcoming change to the annoying buzzing from the back of his mind that screamed, "Talk to her!"

Gosh, his mind was driving him completely insane!

"Peach," Roy blurted out, not realizing what he was doing, only being lead by the many thoughts that cut across his brain.

The princess' face snapped up to Roy and her skin paled. The pyromaniac's one word was like a newly sharpened knive being thrown at her. Peach's knees imediately felt like flimsy rubber. Roy, on the other hand, began to rack his brain for something to say.

_'No! I can't talk to him again! Not now!' _She thought frantically. But still, something compelled her to answer him. Maybe it was because she going mad with the tension between them. That's when she figured out why she turned him down like she did. She wasn't ready to start any kind of relationship. Not after the one that went horribly wrong...

_'No!' _She scolded herself subconsciencely, shuffling her feet uncomfortably, _'Now is not the time to think about that! It's time to suffer for what you did, not to reminesce about that jerk!'_

"Y-yes, Roy?" Peach stammered nervously as she spoke to him for the first time that day, "What is it that you need?"

The general remained silent, long enough for the princess to question whether he was going to answer her or not.

"Would you mind having a word with me...?" He gasped suddenly, succeeding in his attempt not to stammer.

To her own surprise, Peach abandoned Zelda completely and followed Roy, who had also gotten up from his seat and was moving out of earshot of the others. She felt like she would collapse any minute.

Roy, on the other hand, wasn't scared, he was nervous. His palms began to get a little sweaty and clammy. Several thoughts flew through the teens' heads as they tried to gather their thoughts.

The pair finally came to a halt, practically backed up against a wall. A few moments passed before Roy's voice broke the silence.

"Listen," Roy began, looking his blonde companion in the eyes, "I just wanted to say-"

"I'm sorry!" Peach blurted out, saying exactly what the swordsman was going to, interupting and cracking under the pressure of being alone with Roy.

The red-head couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Y...you're what?"

"I'm sorry, okay! I said 'no' because I'm not sure of what I feel!" Peach said angrily, "Don't hold it against me!" Peach continued to ramble on about how confused she was when Roy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The princess instantly became quiet.

"Shhhh," He coaxed her quietly, "I don't hold anything against you." He removed his hand and allowed the princess to talk again.

Peach gently touched the spot where Roy's fingers brushed off against her neck. It tingled and sent shivers up her spine, "...You don't?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Of course not," Roy said softly, "You did what you had to do... How can I hold your heart's emotions against you?"

Peach took a moment to thing on Roy's words, not sure if her heart was even involved in her decision. She couldn't remember even stopping to think about what her heart thought of this situation.

Roy's caring eyes stared at her, "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, trying to meet eyes with her.

This was a side Peach had never saw of Roy. She had never know the hot-head to be concerned about anyone but himself. She had never noticed how amazing he looked as the moon shone through the window and cast an errie light over them, but complimented the side of Roy's face nicely.

But, Peach's pride wouldn't even allow her to think these thought for long, so they were quickly pushed out of her head.

"I'm fine..." She finally answered, looking up at him. For some reason, she was convinced her temperature had went up twenty degrees. She softly ran fingers down her cheek... It was warm to the touch.

"Good." Roy answered, crossing his arms, his caring expression going back to his usual self-centered smirk, "I can't have you getting all emotional on me..."

Peach felt suddently infuriated at him. Why couldn't he just stay sweet and caring? He was actually quite charming... if only he wasn't so ashamed of that side...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A blue haired swordsman walked down the hallway of women's rooms and clicked his pen shut. He had set out and did what he wanted done, he had no reason to avoid Samus anymore. Everything should be clear in front of him by tomorrow. He was absorbed in his own thoughts as he came to a small flight of steps.

Marth decended the steps and was going to turn left down another large corridor when a shoe whizzed past his face. He quickly jerked his head back out of reflexes, and let out a small gasp. He turned to his right; the room the shoe flew out of.

"Uh, Mario?"

The short, itallian plumber turned to face him. The top part of his body had been in the closet, and there were several articles of clothing scattered acrosse the floor, along with many shoes. His face looked frantic, but he managed to give a weak, "Hi, Marth. How-sa things-a going?" in his strong accent.

The Prince gave 'Mr. Nintendo' a reassuring smile. "Pretty good... You?" He stepped a little farther into the room.

Mario hesitated before answering, "Ah, not-a so good... I'm-a looking for-a something really-a important to me-a." he said quietly, and that's when Marth noticed how messy the room actually was.

The Altean cleared his throat. "I don't mean to pry, but, what exactly are you looking for? I could help if you wanted." He offered, leaning on the frame of Mario's bedroom door.

Mushroom Kingdom's Hero just smiled warmly. "If it's-sa not too much-a trouble..." Mario replied, standing up and dusting himself off. Marth could tell he had been looking for a while.

Mario walked towards Marth, "Now, I'm looking for a green earring, it-" The plumber dropped his sentence when he saw the Altean's jaw drop to the floor.

"You are looking for... _what_...?"

Mario crossed his arms and looked up at Marth with a quizzical expression, "Have you seen it?" he asked hopefully as he locked eyes with his company's huge, shocked ones.

Marth's hand flew down to his pockets and he fumbled clumsily to grasp the small piece of jewelry. When finding it, he locked it in his palm, and removed his hand. Now calmer, he held out the green stone-studded earring for the Itallian to see.

Mario's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as he took it from Marth's hand to inspect it.

"Y...yes-sa! This is-a it!" He said happily, taking Marth's and and shaking it vigorously. Not stopping until Marth had lost the feeling in it.

Trying to shake off the numb feeling of a thousand knives being thrust into his aching hand, a million thoughts crossed his mind. But, there was one that stood out above all the rest...

_'How did Captain Falcon get this?'_

Marth pushed these thoughts away.

"Why exactly is this earring so important to you?" He questioned, his interest rising.

Mario sighed, "Peach told me to keep it; it belonged to her first boyfriend."

"Then what was Captain Falcon doing with it?" The Altean asked, lowering an eyebrow in remembrance of the decietful pilot.

"So, that's-a who had it-a." Mario stated, finally understanding, "He was-a asking about it-a yesterday-a, I'm surprised I didn't think of him in the first place-a

"Would you mind telling me the reason for Peach breaking up with her first boyfriend?" Marth asked curiously, licking his lips, "If it's too personal, I'll understand..."

Mario sighed, "It-sa very personal-a, but I think-a I can tell you-a... You seem-a very trustworthy-a... Well, this-a boyfriend was also-a the last one Peach-a ever had. She-a found out he was a, unfaithful... I guess-a you could say-a. Well-a, this-a earring belonged-a to him. She never quite-a got over him-a; it was a horrible way for a first relationship-a to end. He had-a left it for her-a about a week-a before they-a broke up-a. After they-a finally-a did, she couldn't hold on-a to it-a anymore-a... She said it reminded-a her too much-a of him. So, she gave it to me. Then-a, Captain Falcon saw it- on my dresser-a, and asked to hold it. I said-a he could, and I told him the story-a I just told you-a. I guess he forgot-a to give it-a back."

Marth had listened to him relate the tale. And he understood everything. Why Falcon wanted him to give the earring to Roy... And, more importantly, why Peach didn't want to start a relationship with fiery teen.

"Thank you," Marth said to Mario after a few moments of thought, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some... _unfinished business _to tend to..."

And with that, Marth flicked his long, elegant cape in the opposite direction and left.

The Mushroom Kingdom native wondered what he meant by 'unfinished business', but decided it wasn't any of his concern. He walked over to a small box on his bedside table and put the small green earring inside of it.

Then, he set among the task of cleaning up the mess he had made looking for the piece of jewelry.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samus, Zelda, and Peach had said bid Roy and Link goodnight, and were on their way to the room they shared with each other. Almost nobody was still out of their rooms; it was almost ten o'clock.

They reached door, Zelda reached for the knob, and surprisingly, it opened.

"Peach," Zelda began, "did you forget to lock the door earlier?"

The Mushroom Princess smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess I did..."

Samus just rolled her eyes, "Leave it to a princess," she muttered, earning two mock angered glances from the two royals as they entered the bedroom together. They were avoiding the subject of Peach and Roy completely. The two were simply back on speaking terms with each other.

"Ooh, Sammy-Wammy, looks like you had a visitor!"

The bounty hunter ignored Peach's comment and ploped down on her bed. She rolled over on her left side and gently closed her eyes. She saw a faint light shining through, and poked one eye open to see a jar.

In it, it held a captive lightning bug. It's bottom flickered the light off and on. She lifted up the jar to inspect the bug, when she saw a neatly folded piece of paper that had been laying under the glass prison.

Curiously, she laid the jar aside and picked up the note, after unfolding it, she read it to herself.

_"I hope you don't mind me slipping into your room, but I have something I desperately needed to tell you. Everything will be revealed to you in this note. I am a coward for saying these things through a mere letter, instead of telling you myself. I only enclosed the lightning bug within the jar as a visual aid to my message..."_

Samus stopped reading to steal a glance at the captive bug, who had turned its 'tail light' on once more as it fluttered weakly around in the jar.

_"It curiously pains me to see the little guy in there, so tired, so... alone. You see, this lightning bug isn't so different from me. I too am tired of keeping these feelings bottled up, and you have no idea how lonely it is when the one you wish to be with seems unreachable._

_I seem to be unworthy of you, even though I have many others who would beg to differ. But, those people do not know me. You and I have spoken of these matters once before, and you didn't seem too pleased that I had brought up the subject..._

_Again, I apologize I am not man enough to say these things to your face. I just wanted you to know that you know me very well, but you haven't known me long. Though, when I'm with you, I feel very light headed, and usually get butterflies in my stomach. I have not felt this way since I was banished from my own home. By my own people..._

_But, I don't want to take time out of your schedule to read this just to hear of my personal problems. Not this one, anyway. In the past, I have had many things handed to me. Money, power, and shortly before I left, women._

_Women my parents wished for me to carry the bloodline on through. But, of course, being only seventeen, I do not wish to marry some woman I barely know... Much less have children with._

_Again, I seem to have lost myself in my problems, I apologize again. My point is, in my few moments with you alone, I knew you were different._

_You were real, and you didn't treat me with respect I didn't deserve. _

_I must thank you for that at a more appropriate moment._

_I don't know if you will want to even look at me next time we see each other, because I am pouring out my emotions to you when I've only know you for three days... almost four._

_My next statement will be very cliched, but I do feel like I've know you my entire life... Or wanted to, at least. You don't try to say the right things to make me like you, and I adore you for that. Formalities are unessasary, for I am no better than you. I have only had two occasions in which I have been alone with you, if I remember correctly, but I wish to have more._

_You bring out the best in me. When I arrived here, I was so nervous, only knowing one person here. But, I saw you and my heart did cartwheels._

_I blushed horribly in your pressence, and you in mine. Of course you were beautiful, but as I progressed on, I figured out that your face wasn't the only beautiful part of you. But your heart was beautiful as well. You kindness and friendship towards your two roomates was evident, and your strong bond of friendship towards Link. _

_I had to ask a fellow Smasher if he was your boyfriend when I first arrived."_

Samus had to pause again as a visible blush appeared on her pale cheeks. Then, continued to read the love note.

_"It was foolish, yes, but I had to see if I even had a fraction of a chance with you. Even though I learned you and Link were mearly friends, you made it quite clear that you had no romantic interest in me. I said that I had none in you and I just wanted to be friends..._

_As you've probably figured out, that was a nothing more than a nervous lie I made up to try and trick you from the truth. I think you fell for it, but I'm not sure, because you still blush everytime I look in your direction, or just look away._

_I hope you will return my feelings, or slap me if you find this confession sickening. A lightning bug's light only comes on at certain times._

_My light is the same way._

_It turns on when you are near, and quickly demolishes when you leave. I hope my light will one day burn constantly and non-stop, because you are with me._

_I know it is odd that I say these things to you after not even knowing you for a week, but I assure you, these feelings are not fictional._

_This letter came straight from the heart._

_Love,_

_The owner of the heart that you hold in the palm of your hand."_

Samus swallowed hard after she finished the letter. She did have an admirer, and she knew exactly who it was. And deep down in her protected heart, she loved that person as much as they did her.

"Ooh, Sam! Who's it from? What does it say?" Peach asked energeticaly, clapping her hands together like a giddy school girl.

Samus sighed and folded the paper up, thinking hard, "Nothing," she replied half-heartedly.

Peach remained unconvinced.

"Well then, if it's nothing, then why are you blushing?"

Samus' face got redder if possible.

"Ugh! Just leave me alone!" she said angrily, "What's in this letter is none of your business!"

Saying that, Samus grabbed her pajamas and left for the bathroom to change, taking the note with her.

"What's her problem?" Zelda asked, turning to Peach.

Peach smiled, "I think our little Sammy has been bitten by the love bug..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marth made his way to the men's side of the mansion, where their rooms were held, when he felt a large hand cup around his shoulder blade. Marth uttered one name as he quickly turned around.

"Falcon."

The F-Zero pilot curtly nodded at the sound of his name.

"Well, what do you want?" Marth asked irritably. The prince had no taste to talk to his so called friend.

"Don't get all angry," The Captain said timidly, "I just wanted to know if you gave the earring to Roy."

Marth huffed at this.

_'He's such a fool... Doesn't he think that I would have found out about his little scheme when Peach slapped Roy for giving her the earring of her cheating ex-boyfriend?' _He thought. _'Well, maybe that's what he wanted in the first place...'_

Falcon stood on the right side of Marth.

"No," The Altean replied calmly, "I didn't give it to him."

"Why not?" Falcon asked, his smirk falling and anger entering his voice. This pleased Marth.

"Because," Marth replied, "I don't wish to sabotage the relationship between Princess Peach and Roy."

Falcon looked creepily amused.

"... Unlike you." Marth finished as an afterthought.

Ignoring the captain, Marth continued the walk to his room when a rough hand grabbed his arm none too gently, stopping him.

"And who told you all that?"

Marth gave a low chuckle, "That's really none of your concern. What I think is that you should have had the courtesy to return the earring to Mario. After he was nice enough to let you look at it." he anwered half humored, half angry.

Falcon just continued to wear his trademark cocky grin.

"Heh, so the plumber was still looking for it today? I guess he's told you the story behind it too..."

"That assumption would be correct," Marth said sharply before Falcon could continue, "But I would like to know your motives behind giving to me."

Falcon just chuckled.

"Alright, Sherlock. I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you,"

Marth scowled as the captain poked fun at him, but listened as his company launched into a long explaination.

"Well," the ever so cocky Falcon began, "I asked you to give that pyro freak the earring, knowing that you would tell him it would help his relationship with Peach. And I knew Roy would do it, as much as I knew that Peach would think Roy was trying to mess with her head if he did show it to her. I thought that she would get upset-"

"And go running to you?" Marth finished angrily. "She doesn't even acknowledge your existance! What makes you thing you could romance her just because she was upset?"

"Women will do anything when in a vulnerable position... I'm surprised you didn't take advantage of that earlier..."

Marth's eyes blazed with furious passion as Falcon made that last smug comment. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to control himself around the womanizing pilot, he began to walk away.

"I don't have time for this," He muttered darkly.

Marth felt Falcon try to grab his arm again, to fill his mind with more of his disgusting plans.

"Peach," Falcon began again, "wouldn't be able to think twice, she would be under my spell-"

Before the captain could finish, he was promptly cut off by a very ticked and disgusted Marth ramming his fist into his jaw.

Falcon fell back a couple of paces from the force of the impact and put a finger to the corner of his mouth.

Blood.

Marth remained expressionless as he stared Captain Falcon in the eyes. He heard the racer mutter under his breath, and then he walked away from the Altean, without so much as a departing word.

This surprised Marth. Falcon's reputation boasted a cocky pilot who never let people walk over him. Much less walk away from anyone with a busted lip.

The Altean cleared his throat and walked a few more steps to his own room. He wraped his hand around the steel knob and opened the door, then disappeared behind it.

He stumbled blindly around the dark room; Roy and Link were sleeping soundly in their respective beds, and Marth didn't want to turn on the light and wake them. He found his drawers and rummaged through them, pulling out a light blue shirt and a pair of black pants made of some sort of silky material. He kicked off his boots, and lazily threw off his clothes.

Marth quickly slid on his sleeping shirt and pants, and wriggled under his covers in bed. He tossed and turned trying to get comfortable.

He couldn't sleep.

Marth sighed and looked at the ceiling. His chest heaved slowly up and down in a pattern of rhythmic breathing. He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the relaxation and racked his brain, trying to push out thoughts that were trying to get into his head.

Thoughts of Samus, of course.

What would she think of him now? _Was _she even thinking of him?

His thoughts were shattered by a soft tapping at his door. Marth's eyes instantly shot up to Roy and Link; who were undisturbed by the noise.

He let out a sigh of relief.

Marth got out of bed slowly and made his way through the dark room to his door. His hand reached out to open it when he stopped.

Could Captain Falcon be angry? Could he be waiting at his door right now to cause trouble?

That was a risk Prince Marth would take.

He opened the door quickly, expecting the worst. But what he saw sent butterflies to his stomach.

Samus Aran had that effect on him.

Emerald eyes peered at him from the dark hallway. Marth quietly slipped out of his room and into the hallway, not leaving Samus' expressionless gaze.

Marth stood in front of her and crossed his arms.

"Can I help you?"

Samus just stood there for a minute, Marth's body only a few inches from her own.

"Did you write this?" She asked, pushing him gently against the wall, staring at him in an almost accusing way.

Marth, who was surpirsed by her action, allowed her to do so.

He finally answered with a slow but confident nod. He knew it was coming. Rejection. Samus however, looked uneffected by the confirmation.

He remembered how he asked her to react in the letter...

_"I hope you will return my feelings, or slap me if you find this confession sickening."_

Marth closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for a smack in the face. What he felt was exactly the opposite.

Unless he was mistaken, he felt soft, warm lips hesitantly brush against his own.

Marth opened his eyes to see Samus' lips locked with his. To say the least he was shocked. He had expected to be slapped and rejected. To tell Roy tomorrow that he would be able to relate the feeling of being denied.

He could sense that Samus was retracting from his lack of reaction. The last thing he wanted her to feel was doubt.

Marth brought his hand up to her cheek and kissed back. Satisfied, Samus allowed herself to enjoy the kiss for a few more moments before she pulled back.

"Did you mean this?" She asked seriously, holding up the folded note and licking her lips.

Marth came a little closer to Samus.

"Every word." He answered, "But, if you don't feel the same way, I understand-"

Samus put two fingers over his mouth, "Do you honestly think I would waste my time with climbing out of bed and giving you my first kiss if I didn't feel the same way?"

Marth still looked unconvinced, and looked down at the floor.

"Look," Samus began, "I don't let people know how I feel. Much less after only three days of knowing them..."

Marth cleared his throat. Maybe his happy ending was farther away than he thought.

Samus didn't know what to do. She loved Marth, but was new to showing affection, and he looked so doubtful and unbelieving. She wanted him to know more than anything that she kept things bottled up all the time. That she can feel one way, but hide it by acting another way. She was always hesitant towards people that really cared for her. Or, maybe he didn't feel the same way. Maybe he lied. She was so confused.

Marth placed a hand under her chin and tilted her head up.

"I'm confused too," He said, as if reading her mind, "But even after only three days of knowing you..."

Marth paused.

"I already know that I love you. And I want to know if you love me too... I don't want to be humored."

Samus was faced with a tough decision. Would she lie and say she didn't? Or would she chance getting her heart broken?

"I love you too..." She whispered, making her decision. And to her surprise, Marth smiled lovingly and embraced her. It felt warm, she couldn't remember feeling so safe with anyone.

"You won't regret it," Marth assured her, his breath tickling her ear, "I promise."

And Samus believed him, without a doubt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Ahem... okaaaaaaaay. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Got kinda mushy there at the end, huh? I hope you enjoyed the mush, because I had anticipated writing that scene for that couple before I even started this story. Marth and Samus just look so cute together! Don't tell me that you can't fall in love in three days! It's NOT love at first sight, it's merely love... So don't scold me for that in your reviews if you were planning on it. I'll have you know I worked really hard on this chapter! I mean, I went the extra mile when I could have waited a few days! As you can see, I named the chapter in honor of the last part. I appreciate you reading! I would like you thank all of my reveiwers, you guys rock so hard! Hate it? Love it? Either way... REVEIW!**

-Sage


	6. Secret's Out

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 6: Secret's Out

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

Warning: This chapter is choc-full of shameless MarthxSamus fluff and imature humor. Sorry if it angers some of you who don't enjoy that type of humor. I've been in a mushy mood lately, and all the lack of SamusxMarth romance was irritating me But, this chapter is very serious nontheless. I don't think many will like this chapter, but I hope you will give it a chance. Also, keep in mind this takes place a month after last chapter.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Super Smash Bros., it is the property of it's rightful owner.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fox sat on the side of his bed, cleaning out his blaster from his previous battle with Link. The Hero of Time ended up winning. Fox didn't mind, though. Link had politely given the surly pilot his hand and helped him off the ground. That's why Fox respected Link; he was such a good sport. Fox had always guessed it was a hero's honor or something, but Link was one of the kindest people he had ever met.

It was too bad he had to share a room with his arch nemesis, Ganondorf.

Ganon really wasn't a despicable person really, he just had a violent temper. But, it had been a long written rule that villians had to be reinformed before they were allowed to become a Smasher. And so, he guessed that if Ganon hadn't have had the right help, then he would still be just as sinister. But since he shared a home with twenty four other fighters, it would be highly unlikely that the others couldn't take care of themselves... Even if Ganondorf _was_ extremely powerful.

Fox took the old rag he had been using to clean out the gun and set it aside. He let out a deep sigh and stuck the gun back on the bedside table. Since he didn't have any more battles today, he and Falco had planned on going into town for a bit. It had been a while since the two friends had spoken to each other. Though, Fox could clearly recall all the times he wished he had heavy-duty tape to stick across the bird's beak. He could be so cheeky sometimes...

Fox smiled a bit as he walked to the door and opened it. Turning the small notch in the middle of the of the knob, he locked it. Then finally, he slipped out the door himself and closed it behind him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most things were quiet, a lot of the smashers had gone out and done things with their friends. And some could have been wandering around the Smash Stadiums. They would sometimes do that, it reminded many of home.

Samus was an exception.

She walked along the hallways of the mansion, beads of sweat hanging from her forehead. Exhausted didn't do how she felt justice. Not being able to take the heat anymore, she removed her helmet, revealing her long, but damp locks of blonde hair.

"Well, did you win?"

Samus looked up to find the owner of the voice, though, she already had a good idea of who it was.

The bounty hunter sighed, "Yes, but right now I better run up to my room to take a shower." she replied

Marth nodded as she began to turn down the corridor to her room. He figured he'd wait for her, so he followed and stood beside her door after she left behind it. He knew she worked really hard to win all of her matches.

Sometimes, he wished she'd work equally as hard to take care of herself.

The past month with her had been incredible. He had learned so much about her, and the most shocking part was she didn't mind telling him about her past. About being an orphan without a family, how she became a bounty hunter, and the people she met along the way. Marth thought Samus was the most amazing person he had ever had the pleasure of meeting, and even more so the pleasure of loving.

Naturally, Samus wanted to know all about him. He told her of how he met Roy, and how he eventually was kicked out of Altea. Then, Roy left to join SSBM, and like Marth always had, he followed his best friend there. She seemed very interested, and yet, even a little upset.

FLASHBACK

_"I remember when I met Roy when I was younger. We were inseperable... Always doing things together. He was a true friend," Marth smiled a bit has he related the tale to Samus, "It was like that until he came here,"_

_He looked over to Samus, she had her bangs covering her green eyes and was looking down at the floor, refusing to look up at him._

_Noticing this, Marth frowned._

_"Did I say something to upset you?"_

_His only reply was a small sniff emitting from Samus. That's when Marth noticed it... a lone tear fell from her blonde head and hit the floor. He didn't even know why they were sitting on the floor, they had gotten to talking and gradualy they sat down there, deep in conversation._

_"Samus, answer me," He commanded in a gentle tone._

_The bounty hunter only lifted her face up to Marth as he saw fresh tears freely pouring from here eyes. This was so unlike her. Samus was a strong person, emotionaly and physicaly; it wasn't like her to show such weakness and cry openly. This made the swordsman worry even more._

_Without waiting for her reply, he lifted a hand to her face and tenderly brushed a tear away with his thumb, then gave her a small kiss on her cheek. Samus looked utterly emotionless, just staring off into the distance._

_Marth gave up and embraced her, burying his face in her neck._

_"You can talk to me about anything, you know that," He mumbled against her, "I just want you to let me comfort you; I can't do that if you won't open up to me..."_

_His words hung in the air for a moment._

_"It must have been nice," The voice was still cracking, but Samus had somehow gotten enough nerve to answer._

_"What?" Marth asked softly, still not letting go of her._

_"Having friends like that," Samus replied, soaking Marth's shirt in new tears, "I only remember being alone,"_

_Marth finally released her as he realized what was wrong. He had gotten so sidetracked with talking of his close friendship with Roy, that he didn't notice it reminded Samus of how lonely and parentless she had been as a child. Having no friends to call her own._

_Marth patted her slowly on her back._

_"I want to hear everything,"_

_Samus answered his statement with a quizzical look, "W-what...?"_

_"I want to hear everthing about you," He repeated, "That way, you won't have to carry the burden of your past alone."_

END OF FLASHBACK

Marth remembered that night well, Samus had finally broken down and told him everthing. Her fears, weaknesses... and she finally let her guard down enough to cry into his shoulder for the rest of the night.

Samus didn't really talk about that afterwards, but he knew it had meant as much to her as it had him. He had felt more drawn to her, if possible.

Before they were together, Samus seemed like an unemotional person, always keeping things to herself. Within their month of being together, Samus was starting to cry more, and Marth seemed to be the only one she would show that sensitive, fragile side of the rough bounty hunter to. It felt good; to be the only one that she would run to when she needed someone. His happiness was her happiness

He sat there a few more minutes before he heard the door creak open and Samus walked out, dressed in her casual attire and smelling distincly like sweet shampoo. The bounty hunter noticed Marth just staring at her and blushed.

"What?" She asked with mock aggrivation, trying to hide her blush as Marth offered her his arm.

"Nothing," He answered, inhaling, "You just smell like roses..."

Samus got redder, "Oh..."

"Do you have any plans today?" The Prince asked, changing the subject after realizing he was embarrassing the blonde.

"Uh, actually, Zelda and the others wanted to know if you wanted to come with us to town for a bit." Samus replied.

Marth gave her a quizzical look, "They should know that if you're going, then I am too... Unless..." his expression turned a bit disappointed, "... They don't know about us,"

His companion lowered her gaze to the floor, "It's not like that you know," she answered, seeing the hurt in his eyes, "I'm just not ready to go public,"

Marth instantly stopped walking and let Samus' arm go.

"But why not?" He asked, "They should already be getting suspicious..."

"Don't give me that," Samus snapped, "you haven't told Link and Roy either!"

Despite Samus' tone, Marth kept his smooth and calm.

"I didn't want to until you were comfortable," He answered, looking into her somber eyes.

Samus regreted getting angry, but he was being so difficult!

"I'm not in the mood for your petty excuses!" She said angrily, "You are ashamed of what they'll think, aren't you? A prince with a lowly bounty hunt-"

Samus was promptly cut off by Marth extending both his hands out and pinning her somewhat roughly to the wall. She was suprised by his sudden aggresion

"Don't you ever put yourself down in front of me," Marth said in a loud, angered whisper, "You know my status has nothing to do with it, I told you that the night we decided to become a couple... Did you not believe me?"

Samus looked up, her and Marth's faces were almost touching. He didn't look cross, but the tone of his whisper had been full of disappointment, and even a little spite. She had had doubts about Marth. Lies had been told to her before, and she had grown so used to them it had became hard to tell the difference between a lie and reality. She felt it was too good to be true; a drop dead gorgeous prince, who could have anyone he wanted, would pick her, the lonely bounty hunter who was nothing special. She didn't have anything that another girl couldn't give to Marth... Did she?

Everytime she would get on that subject, Marth would get upset. She shifted uncomfortably between her boyfriend's arms and tightly grabed his wrist. His face finally looked up to meet hers, but he didn't release her.

"You know I care deeply for you, Samus," He said in his smooth voice, "But it seems you're still skeptical when I tell you I love you. The closer we get to each other, the more you want to pull away... Why is that?"

The question struck Samus, but she stood her ground.

"I just don't see why you picked me over everyone else," She answered, "There's many more girls out there who adore you... Why not pick one of them?"

Marth stared at her for a few moments.

"I don't know," He replied truthfully, "After all, you keep me a dirty little secret from your friends, and you can't get it through your hard head that I love you. It puzzles me as well."

Samus shot him a quizzical glance; that wasn' the explaination she expected. She almost felt hurt, a feeling she knew all too well. She looked back down to the floor and remained silent.

Marth moved a little closer.

"I didn't_ pick _you," He continued, "You don't _pick_ who you fall in love with; your feelings do. If you have romantic feelings for someone, it's most likely you didn't pick them. You might think you did, but you could _want_ to be with someone, but find that you _need_ someone else."

Samus just blinked at him as his hands fell to his sides.

"And if you don't believe that, or have the same feelings," He said, "Then we shouldn't be together."

Her saddened eyes locked with his. Her walls were falling faster, and Marth had no idea how he affected her. He had no idea how she let go when he was around. Sometimes, she would cuddle up to him for the heck of it. Or just hold onto him for warmth. This feeling made her feel light headed, and even sometimes frustrated with herself.

Marth was a little taken aback when Samus latched onto his arm.

"Come on," She said, practically dragging him the rest of the way down the hall. Marth stumbled after her, a little dumbfounded.

The continued to walk.

"Listen," Samus began.

Marth blinked at the back of her head.

"I'm sorry about giving you so much trouble earlier..." She stopped again.

_'Why do I get so nervous when I try to speak to him?'_

"I just wanted you to know that..."

She paused again for a moment.

"That I love you too."

Marth beamed at the back of her head, and she turned scarlet, refusing to look back at him. Samus was finally begining to realize what he had been telling her all along. Though, he could never get her to smile. It was an odd thing, but he wished he could make her smile. He had tried everything... Flashing _his_ most charming smile, which made most girls scream, he had tried being sweet; just doing nice things for her, but nothing ever worked. He really wanted to see her smile... It was almost some type of objective he had made for himself.

She was beautiful as she was now; wearing an embarrassed scowl on her face, but he wondered if she would feel more comfortable around him if he got her to smile.Or maybe they were moving too fast after all...

He didn't want to think about that.

He snapped back to reality when he felt himself almost trip from falling behind Samus. She still had his hand firmly locked with his, dragging him down that stupid corridor that never seemed to end.

"Uh, I can walk... You DO know that, right?" He said, staring down at their hands.

"I know," She answered almost icily, "I want to hold my boyfriend's hand... is that a crime?"

Marth grinned, "You're very forceful... do you know that?" Samus never had a problem making Marth smile; every word she said stuck to him like glue.

Samus smirked, but it wasn't at Marth.

"While I'm at it," She began, rubbing her fingers in a circular motion on Marth's smooth palms, "Peach wanted me to ask you if she could borrow that moisturizer..."

"I don't use _moisturizer_, woman!" He exclaimed mock offendedly, trailing one of the soft fingers around her wrists and using what Samus guessed was supposed to be a poor excuse for a seductive tone, "This is all _natural_..."

Even though she knew Marth was just joking around with her, Samus' whole hand tingled at his touch, but she ignored it.

"Out of all the guys I could have fallen in love with... it had to be you; the feminine, moisturizer using-

"I don't use moisturizer!"

Samus sighed and continued, "-horrible romantic..."

"You're so mean!" Marth pouted, tugging on her hand like a small child would it's mother's.

"Psycho..."

"Don't forget about my dashing good looks!" He reminded her. Now, he was going to try to use his imature humor to try and make her smile. To say the least, it really wasn't working.

"Conceited," Samus said, studying the nails of her free hand.

Marth sighed and gave up; maybe he was trying too hard...

Not hearing a protest, Samus stopped naming off Marth's quailities.

"I was just joking you know," She said finally after a few more moments of silence, "But you _are _acting really weird... You're a little more happy than you were a while ago. When the others are around, you're really quiet and don't say much. But when we're alone, you act really goofy and... Cute..."

Marthblushed at her last word as they entered the living room area (A/N: Finally...) and spotted three others downstairs, talking quietly when one of them looked up.

"Ah! Here come the two lovebirds!" Peach squeaked, running towards the pair, who were still holding hands.

Samus and Marth's jaws dropped ten feet, "What did you call us?" they asked in unison.

Peach stopped, "Well, aren't you two dating?" she asked, a little confused.

Samus stopped walking abruptedly, causing Marth to bump into her from behind.

Marth knew Samus didn't want people to know about them, but, they were their freinds; they had a right to know. Besides, he _wanted _people to know.

"Yes," he answered finally, "But, how did you find out?"

Peach studied them for a moment.

"Well for one," She began, "you're holding hands... Second, Samus is blushing."

Peach paused to see if she left anything out as Samus glared daggers at her.

"Oh!" She remembered, ignoring the furious bounty hunter, "And, I saw you two tonguing each other in the hallway the other day!"

Marth's eyes grew wide as saucers and Samus let go of his hands to clamp hers tightly to the Mushroom Princess' mouth.

"We weren't _tonguing_!" She protested, "What do you think we are... animals?"

After a few muffles of protest from the princess, Samus finally let go of Peach's mouth.

"Don't be ashamed," The energetic Princess said afterwards, turning serious, "Besides, I may have beenstretching the truth a _tiny_bit,"

Samus knew that Peach was right, but the girl didn't have to be so blunt about it! She made it sound like a full-blown make out session. Which, it certainly wasn't.

Marth stood looking at the twofor a few moments before going towards Roy, Link and Zelda. He greeted all of them with a sheepish smile; he had nothing else to hide, his secret was officially out. And Samus just stood there, expecting some sort of bomb to go off any second.

"You guys make a nice couple," Link said, nodding his approval.

"All I have to say is you better be good to her or she'll totally beat the daylights out of you," Zelda warned, smiling brightly at him despite her statement. Samus just lowered her head and chuckled.

Roy moved a little closer to him, "It's just too sad thatyou got toher before I did..." he said jokingly.

Marth just shook his head, "Will you ever grow up?" he repriminded.

"Nope!" Roy answered dramatically, returning to his normal silly self, "But I will approve of this union! Just remember to send me an invitation to the wedding!"

The Prince rolled his eyes as Samus scowled at the red-head, a blush appearing on her cheeks.

Marthwondered if it would be this easy to get the approval of the other smashers.

"You're lucky..." Peach muttered at Marth, giving him a secretive wink. Marth just smiled as he remembered their conversation from a month ago.

"Well, are we going?" Zelda asked, tapping her foot impatiently on the hard-wood floor, knocking Marth from any thought.

"I don't know..." Roy said, "Are you and Marth coming, Sam?"

The bounty hunter nodded her head in confirmation.

"Okay! Let's go!" Roy commanded, leading the others out the door, "Peachie is paying!"

"No I'm not!" The Princess protested, "It was your idea to go out, so you're paying!"

The others only sighed and followed as Roy and Peach walked ahead of everyone, arguing about who's going to pay.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group of friends made it through the busy streets up to the equally busy restaurant in the cold, crisp, night air as people shoved each other aside and were trapped in the web of passers-by.

"Gosh Roy," Marth said in surprise once they reached their destination, "Did you have to pick the most crowed restaurant in town?"

The pyro swordsman shrugged, "This is my favorite place, and I figured it would be cool if we all went here together."

Zelda sighed between chattering teeth, "That's sweet, Roy, but we'll have to get in the actual building first... Be for we can be in 'togetherness'," she said matter of factly

"What an idiot..." Peach breathed in a way she thought to be inaudibly.

"What did you say, Peachie?" Roy asked, cupping a hand to his ear and leaning towards her for dramatic effect.

"Why do you call me that?" She asked, getting pushed out of the way by a very angry looking man.

Roy glared at the man for a moment before he became submerged in the crowd once again, then smiled at Peach.

"Because," He answered, "It's my petname for you, and I think it suits you!" Roy lifted a pointing finger into the air, as if his explaination was the most complex one ever told.

"Whatever," Link said, ignoring him, "Let's just get inside,"

Marth nodded and followed the four in front of him as they started to bowl their way through the thick crowd to the entrance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After what seemed like forever, they made their way through the door where they looked around to see a small diner.

"This," Marth began, giving Roy a glare, "Is what we shoved ourselves around for?"

Roy beamed at his friend, "Yeah! Isn't simplicity the best thing ever?"

Right after Roy said those words, a very friendly looking waitress approached them.

"How many are in your party?" She asked, giving them a big warm smile.

Zelda looked back out of impulse, even though she knew there were six of them when she noticed...

Peach noticed it too...

"Hey, Marth," She began.

The Altean looked up at the blonde at the mention of his name, "Yes?"

"Uh, where's Samus?"

Marth chuckled, "She's right there-" he dropped his sentence when he looked behind to see nobody.

He instantly panicked. He knew that Samus was tough and could take care of herself, but it still worried him that she had slipped off without telling him. He found himself choking on his own unfinished sentence. He immediately scolded himself for not holding her hand through the mess of people

Marth went into his own little world, only snapping back to reality when he heard two familiar voices call out to him from the restaurant entrance.

He turned to see Fox and his friend Falco running towards him, eyes filled with almost as much panic as his own.

The young waitress from earlier just stared at them, wondering why in the world it was so hard for them to tell her how many of them were eating. Roy quickly asked her to hold on, and she shook her head in a knowing way before scurrying off to tend to another set of customers who just walked in.

"There's something we need to show you," Fox said urgently as he and Falcon ushered for Marth to follow them outside.

The crowed outside the diner had thinned a great bit as Marth followed Fox and Falco to a large clique of people who seemed to have recently gathered there to form a large circle around something. The three of them stopped.

"Go see for yourself," Falco said, a grave expression replacing his traditional cross face.

Marth instantly listened and hastily pushed through the dense crowd, cold air filling his lungs and making hisair passagesburn. His breath was whitevapor in the air. His heart raced untill he came to what all the fuss was over. The only thing her heard was the empty, singular beating of his own heart in his chest. Then, he just stood there, pain and guilt taking over his usually warm and attractive face.

What he saw sent a dagger through his heart...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oooooooooh, yeeeeeeeeees! A CLIFFHANGER!

By the way, I'd like to thank the following reviewers...

**Babykoalaprincess**: Thanks for droping the review! I'm glad you liked last chapter, and I hope you liked this chapter! And if you don't, I promise to make the next one better! Here's a spoiler... THE PLOT WILL BEGIN!

**Royal Kenya**: Thank you RK! I am really honored that a writer of your status would like my story! Thanks for the support!

**crystalicios**: I saw your profile! Thanks for mentioning me and saying all those nice things! Oh, and for advertising this story!

**BabyGurl278**: Aw, I'm glad you like the letter! You mentioned me in your profile too! Thanks! I hope this chapter is to you liking as well!

**Black Light Princess**: Thanks for your review! You rock as well! Sorry there's not much Peach, but I had to start foucusing on the other characters, right?

I hope you liked this chapter! My reviewers rock!Here's a gift for being so supportive! (gives reviewers a cookie)I hope you didn't mind this focusing more on MarthxSamus stuff. Hmmmmm... I've focused on PeachxRoy, and MarthxSamus... I wonder who's next... ;) Thanks for reading, and remember to review. Really! All I want you to do is click that very attractive purple button and tell me how much you liked/disliked my story... You know ya wanna know what happens next.

-**Sage**


	7. The Predictable

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 7: The Predictable

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

Author's Note: Last time on The O.C... Just kidding. Gosh, you guys all know me too well. Let's just say, you might not have me as figured out as you think you do... And finally, the plot unravels, and you will see some of the drama that I have yet to add. I've noticed that there has been spacing problems with my writing, and I believe it is the site's doing. I will edit it two times for good measure, and if you spot any errors after, I'm sorry. I promise you that when this story is finally complete, I will go back and fix all mistakes.

Disclaimer: I just love these things! Anywho, I don't own Super Smash Bros. Melee, but I have a couple of lawyers that will help me on that issue... Eventually.

Enjoy.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marth stared in disbelief down at the pale girl a few yards in front of him surrounded in a pool of crimson fluid. He heard loud murmurings around him, and some people even called out to him asking if he knew the girl.

But, he didn't hear.

Every sense seemed to have been wiped from his body. He felt empty, something he hadn't felt in a long time He blindly jogged toward the girl and kneeled down beside her.

He stared into the dark emerald eyes that seemed to have lowered down into the girl's sockets, making the grotesque sight even more horrid. He sunk even lower down until he was practically laying down beside her and pressed his body tightly against hers, drenching himself in the blood that poured freely from her open head wound. He ran his fingers through her once silky hair, blood staining his trembling hand. For a moment, his forehead rested on hers. Then, he slowly trailed his lips down to hers and gave the motionless girl a soft kiss. His lips lingered on her cold, dead ones as if they were a sweet addiction, slowly fading away with every passing second. He had hoped that she would magicaly awake at the kiss of her prince, like in those stories.

No avail. He had always thought that fairy tales were useless, anyway. The young man's jaw clenched and unclenched at his failed attempt. He felt so guilty. It seemed that if he would have just held her hand to make sure the crowd didn't sweep her away...

But, no. He had been too afraid some outsider would have found out about their romance, and spread the secret around. Samus was right; he had wanted to keep her a secret from everyone. Maybe not for the reason she thought, but he still treated her like she was something he regreted. This made him wonder what she was thinking before this happened.

Was she angry? Upset? Did she really think he was ashamed of her?

Or maybe she lied when she told him she believed he was sincere... Regardless, he screwed everything up, and he had no one to blame but himself.

Marth brought up a finger to her neck and pressed it lightly in several spots, checking for a pulse. He found it beating faintly, if he had not been so close to her, he would have mistaken it for his own breathing. This was no time to get lost in thoughts; he had already wasted too much time alrealdy.

He hauled her up bridal style and stared at her for a moment. She was completely expressionless, as if she was thinking nothing when this happened to her. Four others approached him from what seemed out of nowhere, hesitant to get too close. Marth stared blankly at them, as if he didn't know who they were. Their faces lost all warm color when they saw the woman in his arms. He took this opportunity to look around.

He was in a dark and deserted alley, such a cliche place to attack someone in his opinion. The crowd that had gathered returned to their own business and left the six alone. It was as if they didn't really care. Marth didn't care, though, he didnt' need anybody's help. If he got her into this mess, then he could surely get her out.

One slowly walked up to Marth and attempted to place a comforting hand on the young prince's shoulder, and he recognized her instantly as Princess Zelda. Much to her dismay, he cringed at her touch and pulled away quickly.

"Leave me alone," He spat, hiding his face. He knew Zelda meant well, and regreted snapping at her, but it seemed like it was instinct. But it was still no excuse to act that way towards a friend.

Zelda looked hurt for a moment, but her attention turned back to the unconscience figure laying in his arms. She cleared her throat, her blue eyes conveying an unknown emotion.

Marth ignored Zelda and pressed the one in his arms tighter against himself for support as he used his newly free hand to violently tear his cape off and wrap it gently but firmly around the blonde's bleeding head. Her hair was in matted, red, sticky clumps and her skin was ice cold; it almost looked blue. He shivered at the sight

"Samus," Marth said quietly as he tried to warm her body up as much as he could. Since when was summer so cold?

He knew he had to get her back to the mansion as soon as possible. Wordlessly, he burried his head in crook of her neck and began walking in the direction of the place he now called home, Zelda, Link, Peach, and Roy tagging closely behind with pain-filled eyes. Even in her current condition, Samus was still the sweetest scent he had ever inhaled.

Marth didn't know when, but somewhere along the way back his eyes began to fog up and salty tears rained down from his eyes. He felt so weak and helpless. A small arm interlocked with his.

Marth's head snapped up to see Zelda almost hugging the arm he was using to carry Samus, and the Princess' other gloved hand tightly squeezing Samus' limp one. He was relieved to find he didn't pull away from, or start to yell at Zelda.

The Altean really wanted to smile, but found himself physicaly unable to do so.

"Thank you," He whispered gruffly to Zelda, who nodded softly in response. He hoped that would get the message through.

On his other side appeared Link, who stared down at Samus sadly. Roy's hand clapped around his shoulder, but not in the friendly, warm way he usually did it in. His hand went rigid, and stayed very stiff. Peach just silently layed her hand over Marth's left one, which was supporting Samus' head. They walked in their small group the rest of the way back.

All six of them wanted the one thing that they didn't realize they were giving each other. Which was comfort in the ways they really needed it. There was a companionable silence that passed between them as they trudged back with Samus clutched closely to Marth.

The five quickened their pace in the chiled summer night as they reached the lawn of a large mansion.

Fox and Falco were standing on the porch waiting for them as they came into view. The two best friends stood ashen faced as Roy wordlessly opened the door for Marth. His friends walked back into the mansion and Roy let go of door and pulled it closed.

There was a series of clearing throats before Fox spoke up.

"How's he doing?" The pilot asked quietly, looking at his feet. He knew Roy knew who he was talking about.

"He didn't say anything," Roy began in reply, "But I can tell that he's stll in disbelief by the way he was acting,"

Fox didn't say anything, but Roy saw Falco nodding slowly.

"We didn't have much to do with Samus," Falco said, "But we didn't hate her, so we just wanted you to know that if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

Roy looked up in surprise, "Thanks," he said, "that means a lot. Especially coming from you."

Despite his grim expression, Falco grinned in reply, "Don't mention it; it's the least we could do. It's just surprising that something like this would happen to Samus, you'd think she'd be able to handle anything anyone could throw at her, ya know?"

Roy didn't respond, instead he opened the door and left the pair outside. It was complicated for him, he and Samus were never that close, but he still cared for her, like he did all his friends. And he could think of one in particular that he cared somewhat more deeply for than the rest, but the thought was quickly shoved out of his mind.

The swordsman's ponderings streamed on as he made his way to the room of Dr. Mario. Marth didn't tell him what he was going to to with Samus when they got back, but he knew that the prince wouldn't be dumb enough to lolly gag around the mansion when Samus was loosing all of that blood.

Roy's heavy footsteps echoed off the walls creating an errie 'thump' up the dark corridor as he began his long climb up the lengthy stairs. He finally reached the long stretch of hallway that contained all of the men's rooms.

He walked in silence down the endless pathway of doors, scanning them all in search for Dr. Mario's room. Roy stopped to look around for a moment.

_"Aww, jeez..." _He repriminded hinmself mentally,_ "I just remembered, I don't know where Dr. Mario's room is!"_

Roy always had a problem with his sense of direction and tendency not to think things through. His carefree and goofy attitude got him in trouble a lot, but it also had earned him the best friends anyone could ask for.

"Roy?"

_'Speaking of which...'_

The pyro swordsman looked up, breaking from his mental ramblings to see a blonde princess looking at him with concerned eyes from a room a few feet away from him.

"Yeah, Peach?"

Peach stared at him for a moment as if she didn't hear him.

"Are you feeling alright?" Roy inquired.

The princess shook her head and gave Roy a small smile, "Of course I am!" she replied loudly, "Now hurry up; Dr. Mario is going to take Samus in to examine her head."

Roy cocked an eyebrow at how odd the her sentence sounded, then smirked out how sweet she looked standing in the doorway with a goofy grin plastered on her face. He smiled and nodded, making his way to the door, disappearing behind it with the princess.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The five of them sat anxiously on the floor of Dr. Mario's room while he was in the back looking at Samus in his private examining room that Master Hand had made sure to include for the doctor.

_"Gosh," _Marth thought angrily, clutching his head in agony, "_What is taking so long? I want to know if she's okay!"_

He had been on the edge since Dr. Mario had refused to let him come back there with Samus, saying that he'd just be in the way. It had worried Marth sick, not being able to be with her, or even know what was wrong with her. His posture contradicted this, though.

Marth just sat there with an emotionless face, not smiling or frowning, or even looking the least bit concered, despite his screaming conscience. Every so often, he would jerk his head up at the door, hoping that Dr. Mario would be finished, or bury his face in his hands, still blaming himself.

Not even he could deny it; he was going insane.

Zelda sat beside Link, bitting her quivering bottom lip. And Link just stared at the floor with the most blank and utterly confused look Marth had ever seen, ignoring everything.

Oddly enough, the only ones in the room that seemed to be alive were Roy and Peach, who sat silently on the floor beside each other.

That is, until Peach realized that Roy was holding her hand...

"Ugh! You perv!" She cried, giving the unsuspecting swordsman a swift slap across the face, "What kind of trick was that!"

Everyone instantly looked up as Roy rubbed his hand fiercely over a very prominent hand-shaped red mark on his cheek.

"What the heck was that for?" Roy asked aggrivatedly, "And who are you calling 'perv'!"

"You!" She yelled back, "You were holding my _hand_!"

"Aww, Peachie!" He said, "That's not true! _You_ were holding _my_ hand!"

"That's a lie!" She protested, "Why would I hold _your_ hand?"

"Don't even go there!" Roy warned, "I don't feel like arguing with you!"

"Well, I feel like arguing with _you_," She said, calming down a bit, "First of all, this... _Peachie_ thing..."

"I've already told you: I'm not going to stop calling you that; it's you nickname!"

Peach knew that Roy got on her nerves on purpose, because he knew she couldn't resist insulting him back. But she didn't know why it amused him the way it did. Though, she had to admit; she liked getting on his nerves too...

"Aw, shut up!"

Peach snapped out of her thoughts to see a very annoyed Link glaring at them.

"I'm sure that Dr. Mario can't concentrate with you two arguing like that," He said calmly, "And you guys must not be that offended, because you haven't let go of each other's hand."

Roy blushed darkly and his eyes flew down to his hands, still linked with Peach's. The two teens ripped away from each other quickly, staring holes into each other.

Link just continued to stare at them with intereest as Dr. Mario poked his head out of a door on the other side of the room.

"You can come see her," He said simply, opening the door a little further when he saw them all jump up. They all entered the door together, Marth a nervous wreck. Though he walked in the room calm and collected as he always was, as he was always taught to act. He swallowed hard as he approached the hospital bed to see a lump with white sheets laying motionlessly.

Mario walked to the other side and pointed to a very tender looking spot on the back of Samus' head that he had never seen before.

"She apparently was hit with a very blunt object," He explained, "And has been unconscience since,"

"Well, I could have told you that!" Roy said, crossing his arms indignantly. Peach gave him a swift jab in the ribs, and he quieted instantly.

"As I was saying," The doctor continued, "She will be like this for a while. I would tell you foul play is the reason..."

"No," Roy interrupted again sarcastically, "She got angry because she couldn't find us, so she slammed a brick up against the back of her head in a dark alley, right?"

Dr. Mario rubbed his temples, trying to relieve his aggrivation.

"Peach," He sighed, "will you please do something with red-head over there?"

Peach nodded and grabed Roy roughly by the arm and dragged him out of Mario's examining room.

"Ah, c'mon, Peachie! I wanna see Samus!" Roy whinned like a small child.

"We'll come back later, Roy," Peach said absentmindedly, ignoring his use of her petname and opening the door to shove the offended swordsman out kicking and screaming before leaving herself.

Dr. Mario smiled after they had disappeared. "There, that's better!" He said. "I-

"Are you saying she's in a coma?" Marth asked sharply, interrupting the doctor and looking down at Samus, reaching down to grip her hand.

"Yes," Mario's alter ego replied, "But only for a few days; the blow only caused minor damage. Still though, it takes a very strong and bulky person to hit with such force. I think her back was facing them, and they hit her from behind unexpectedly,"

Marth wasn't paying any attention to Dr. Mario's explaination, he was already checking off suspects in his mind that could have done this to Samus. He played around with her lifeless fingers, locking them with his own.

"Are you sure?" He asked, "About it only being a few days?"

Dr. Mario nodded, "I'm positive; there's no need to worry. She'll be just fine."

Link and Zelda sighed with relief.

"That's good," Link said, "As long as I know she's fine, I don't have to worry... You coming, Zel?"

The Hylian nodded after glancing down thoughtfully at Samus. After a few moments, she turned to leave.

"Are you staying here for awhile, Marth?" She asked.

The Prince of Altea gave her the best smile he could muster.

"Yes," He replied simply, returning his gaze to Samus.

He looked up at the clock.

"Or I might just go on to bed," He said as an afterthought, "It's getting late, anyway."

Zelda nodded, and left with Link without another word.

Marth sat in one of the chairs that Dr. Mario had placed in front of the bed. Not seeing the doctor anywhere around, he guessed that he must have snuck out with Link and Zelda so he could be alone.

Samus laid on the bed peacefully, she had been changed and cleaned, courtesy of two certain princesses, much to Marth's relief.

The moonlight seeped through the window and cast a glow over the bounty hunter's form. Her love looked softly at her through saphire eyes and rested his head on her stomach.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, "I should have been there to protect you. But instead of keeping you close, I pushed you away so no one would suspect anything, since town is always crawling with reporters. It was wrong though, no matter the reason."

Marth had to pause to blink back tears. People had always told him he acted somewhat mysterious, always making it complicated to know what he was truly thinking. But when he was with Samus, he wasn't afraid to cry, or tell people what he wanted, or what he felt. Everything was simple around her.

"I am always telling you that you don't have to keep you barrier up all the time, because I'll take care of you... You let your guard down for once when you were with me, and I let you down like this," He said mournfully, "I wouldn't trust me again."

Marth lifted his head up and brought her hand up to his lips, "I hope you will forgive me," he mumbled quietly as he softly kissed her hand, "Even though you can't hear me."

He leaned back in his chair, and gently rested his eyes; the day's events relentlesly pushing themselves into his restless mind. He mearly ignored them as the warmth of the deserted room lulled him into a peaceful summer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was around eleven o'clock when Roy and Peach walked quietly up the stairs to Dr. Mario's room to finally visit Samus.

"Let's go through that door," Peach said, jesturing to a door further down the corridor beside the doctor's.

"But," Roy protested, "I thought we were going to see Samus,"

"We are, you idiot," She muttered darkly, "That's the hallway's entrance to Dr. Mario's examination room!"

Roy scratched his head and donned a silly grin, "Oh! Well, Peachie, why didn't you say so?"

"Just shut up so we can see her before it gets any later! And stop calling me Peachie!" Peach growled, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

Roy, ignoring this, mearly nodded and followed her as she gently pushed the door open. The pair chuckled at what they saw.

Marth was snoozing peacefully, hands still locked with Samus'. He had a small smile on his face.

"Aww," Peach cooed, "They are really sweet together, aren't they? They way he looks when he's with her..."

"Yeah," Roy agreed, nodding his head, "It kinda makes you wish guys didn't run away from _you_, doesn't it?"

Peach was about to agree when she realized what he said.

"I"m only joking!" Roy insisted, seeing the death glare aimed staight at him.

The Mushroom Princess rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," She began, "This is really juicy blackmail material!"

Having said that, she whiped out an old Polariod camera that seemed to come out of thin air.

"How the heck did you get that?" Roy eyed her curiously.

"I always keep one with me," She responded, holding the bulky object up to her eye.

"Say 'cheese', tiara boy," She mutttered with mock venom in her voice. The camera let out a flash, and beeped silently telling her that the picture had safely been taken. She quickly grabbed that photograph that it deposited.

"Now _that's_ a Kodak moment," Roy giggled, "I like the way you think, Peachie."

The princess snickered, "That's good; because you're next!"

Roy looked horror stricken.

"Just kidding!" Peach assured him with a smile, "I wouldn't ever blackmail a partner in crime,"

Roy raised an eyebrow, "'Partner in crime?" He questioned, giving her a quizzical glance.

"Yah," Peach said, giving him and evil smile, "If Marth ever sees this picture, I'm blaming it on you, of course..._ Partner_," Roy only gawked at her.

There was a russle of clothes and Marth stirred silently in his seat, shifting his leg's position and subconsciencely lifting a hand to scratch his nose. Peach saw this.

"Ooh," she said in awe, "I gotta get him to teach me that... How can you _gracefully_ scratch you nose? That was..."

"Dumb blonde!" Roy whspered hoarsely, interrupting her, "We gotta get out of her before he **_gracefully_** drives that sword through our hearts!"

Roy quickly grabbed Peach by the back of her pink dress and dragged her out of the room, closing the door frantically behind them.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" She asked angrily, eyes blazing with fury.

"Uh..." Roy said, lost for words, "I didn't mean to call you that, it seemed like the only way to get you to cooperate... because if Marth had woken up and saw us spying on him, he would have killed us. I'm to young and handsome to die, ya know..." He knew blondes weren't stupid, and he hated those jokes, but it just kinda... slipped out.

Peach sighed and shook her head, gaze softening instantly, "Can you get any more vain?" she asked.

Roy rubbed his chin in thought, "No, I don't think so," he replied, "Aren't I special?"

"Yeah..." Peach said sarcastically, "_Real_ special..."

Despite her tone, Peach couldn't help but believe what she just said. And she hated herself for it. Roy waved a slender hand in her face.

"Hello," He joked, "Is anything in there? To be truthful I'd wager not..."

Peach scowled at him, "I'm going to bed," she mumbled, turning around and fuming all the way down the hall. Roy just shrugged; she was always in a bad mood, anyway. Though, he couldn't help but feel apologetic for hurting her feelings; he really hadn't meant to.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walking in to her room, Peach saw Zelda spawled out on her bed, garbed in her night clothes and reading a book. The Hylian looked up and smiled.

"Did you get the picture?"

Peach nodded and handed her the photo.

Zelda smirked as she saw the image of Marth cuddled up in the chair as he slept, his grip on Samus' hand unwavering, "That's so sweet," she said softly.

The Mushroom princess beamed as she stooped down and grabbed a thick book from under her bed. Peach was never going to use that picture for blackmail, but she wasn't stupid enough to tell Roy she was using for a scrapbook; he would just blab to Marth. Besides, she had something special planned for the book.

"Yes," she finally replied, "That's why this will be a token of their relationship! Ya know, in case they happen to break up or something!"

Zelda giggled, "Oh, but Peach, we'll have to kill him if that happens!"

The other blonde nodded, "Yeah, I don't think that he'd do that, though."

There was a prolonged silence following her statement.

_'Wow,' _Zelda thought, _'I've never noticed how... **empty** this room was without Sam...'_

"I miss Samus," Peach said, reading Zelda's mind, "it's not as fun without her around..."

Both princess sighed as Zelda reached into a drawer on he bedside table and pulled out craft glue. She opened the scrapbook to a blank page and smeared the sticky substance to make a small square box. Peach gently took the picture and pressed it firmly on top of the glue, and rubbed it in various spots until she was sure it was sticking to the page properly. Zelda nodded at their achievement.

"Wait," Peach said suddenly as Zelda was about the close the book, "Since we're starting a page on Marth and Sam, we should name it!"

"Yes!" Zelda agreed, "It has to be something creative!"

"It must be something romantic!" Peach breathed dreamily.

Zelda put the glue up and got out a marker, "What about if we let Samus and Marth name it?"

Peach nodded, "That makes sense. Who's knows more about their relationship than themselves?"

The Princess of Hyrule smiled and slid the scrapbook back under her bed.

Peach just sat on her bed with a downcast expression, "It's kinda scary to know that there's someone out there who'd want to hurt her like that..."

Zelda nodded, knowing exactly what she was talking about, "I know, but the important thing is that she'll be fine in a few days,"

Peach just looked more troubled.

"I know. But that doesn't mean they couldn't hurt someone else."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roy's footfalls were long and heavy as he walked the small distance to his room, he would occasionally stare off into space, but he quickly returned. It wasn't like him to actually think, but after seeing Peach walk off the way she did, it kinda hurt him.

Well, maybe his ego a bit more...

But still, he hated to admit it, but he didn't mind hanging out with Peach. At first, he thought she was just some pampered princess, the complete opposite of her friend, Zelda. But after he had gotten to know her, he found that she was a pretty interesting person. Underneath all of that glamor and beauty, there was a person with real problems, and not some plastic person that didn't have a care in the world.

She kind of reminded him of himself in a way.

She was arrogant at times, and wasn't scared to act a little goofy. She loved to swap insults, and he couldn't help but be amused at the little things she got in arguments about.

_'Ugh, why am I thinking about her this way?' _He thought confusedly, _'This isn't like me!'_

Roy stopped in front of his door and grasped the brass handle, turning it. Link was laying on his bed, starring off into space when Roy let himself in.

"Where's Marth?" Link inquired, not looking at Roy as he entered.

"Sleeping with Samus," He answered simply. Link knew that Roy purposely made his sentence sound like that. Though, his friend's humor didn't sould good natured and like it usually did. It sounded somewhat serious.

"You're such a sicko," The blonde said, sitting up, "I'm surprised Peach hasn't slapped you today, since you've been such a jerk to her lately..."

Roy shrugged and kicked off his boots, "Who cares? She's been a jerk too..."

Link sighed, "And the way you call her Peachie, you know it annoys her, and that's why you do it."

Roy looked over at his friend, "Alright, I'll admit it, I know it get on her nerves, but I really do like the name,"

"Well, I have a question for you..." Link said.

"Ask me then," Roy replied, "And make it quick; I'm tired."

"Do you like Peach?"

Roy choked on his spit as his eyes went wide.

"No!" He exclaimed, "What in the world made you ask that!"

Link shot him a sly smirk.

"You two were holding hands," He reminded with a hint of smugness in his tone.

Roy just scowled.

"That was an accident," He insisted, "I thought my hand was on my knee..."

"Suuuuuure," Link said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm serious!" Roy said, "She's one of the most aggrivating people I've ever met!"

Link smiled brightly, "See," he cooed, "there's something you and her have in common!"

Roy groaned in defeat and burried himself under the covers, becoming quiet.

"I was just kidding," Link offered, not wanting to make Roy angry.

"Sorry I got so ticked," The swordsman apologized back, "I just feel so crappy after what happened to Sam today..."

Link felt a lump start to develop somewhere in his throat.

"Me too,"

And it wasn't long before both parties had worried themselves into a deep and well-deserved sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I feel like hanging myself now for some reason...

Thanks for all the reviews! You guys are the best! Of course, I gotta give my regards to **crystalicios**, **Royal Kenya**, **Black Light Princess**, and **Babykoalaprincess**! These wonderful authoresses are such a big inspiration to me! They totally rock the fanfiction world! Or, FF sisters as BLP puts it. Well, here goes my shout outs and credits to my lovely reviewers! I hope you weren't offended by the 'dumb blonde' thing, I don't really think blondes are dumb. Roy was just being his insensitive self, so don't be angry! ...Please?

I know this was a faster and slightly shorter chapter, but I really hope you liked it all the same.

**Royal Kenya**: Thank you! You are so supportive of my story and I thank you for that! I hope this chapter was to your liking! By the way, you're actually really close to figuring this story out.

**crystalicios: **(shudders) I didn't mean to hurt her! It's just part of the plot! I read the latest chapter of _The Test_! Yay me! I thank you for your support!

**Babykoaloarprincess**: Gosh, I see you are busy being awesome as usual! I give you my regards for that lovely review! And no, the plot was in the proccess of revealing itself. And yes, this is indeed the starting point of the consequences of Marth's mistakes. This is how it ties into the title. Besides, I couldn't think of anything else at the time.

**Black Light Princess**:Yeah, I felt that the last chapter was a little short as well, though I can't put my finger on it... Oh well. Thanks for the review! You totally hit the nail on the head with your assumption.

**Evil Mastermind Lloyd**: Thanks for the review! Drop me another if you feel like it, and I hope you liked this chapter! You rock!

**Lo**: I am most certainly evil aren't I? Ha! Thanks for the review!

**BabyGurl287**: Thank you once again! I'll have to remember to read some more of your stories! You know I don't care for Malinks unless you're the one writing them! Seriously. I refuse to read them unless you write them! I hope you liked my lastest installment!

**Nienna Calmcil**: Wow, thanks! I've read part of your story, but I'm not a big Malinker... Anyway, thanks for the review! I really like getting them. (And the fact that none of them are flames pleases me even more!) But I do like your story! I'll be sure to read the next time and review!

**RoyalFanatic**: Teehee! I adore the way you RP in your reviews! It really adds to their worth for some reason! Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter! Samus didn't get run over by a car! XD

Until next time! Now, click that blasted review button, and remember to buckle your seatbelts on the way out! Remember, critism is welcome! But only give it if you have a reason, and a suggestions so I can improve! I got nine reviews for Chapter 6! Yay me! (Gives reviewers... GASP! Brownies!) Well, see ya next time!

-**Sage**


	8. Begining the Fairy Tale

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 8: Begining the Fairy Tale

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

Authoress' Note: Well, I have gotten some interesting reviews, and I'd like to give a special thanks to **Black Light Princess **and **Babykoalaprincess**, because they both have given me some very wonderful reviews, and reminded me of the true reason I even started to write this piece of junk. And I mean that in a good way! But then again, I love all of my reviewers. Even though this seems like a Marth/Samus fic, it was not supposed to be. Being my dumb self, I got a bit side-tracked after starting their coupling, and genuinely forgot about the others.

Disclaimer: I don't own SSBM, I only grace the literature world with my fantasies such as this one. Wait, not THOSE kinds of fantasies! Hahahaha, you guys are such sillies!

Enjoy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marth's breathing was relaxed and perfectly patternized as he slumbered silently in his chair, which was seated right by Samus' bed. His hand was laying on his lap, and Samus' was hanging limply off the bed. Apparently their hands had impulsively released each other after Marth had fallen asleep. The early morning sun streamed through and window, brightening up the small room in which the couple slept.

Unknowingly to them, four shadowly figures approached, one of them ready to pounce...

"Hiiiiiii Maaaaarth!"

The prince awoke instantly and jumped out of his seat with a yelp, a young Nana tightly clinging to his side. After seeing the small girl smiling brightly at him, he grinned back.

"Now what are you doing here?" He asked sweetly as he pried her gently off of him and sat her gently on the floor.

"We've come to see Samus!" She declared as Marth sat back down in his chair.

"We?" He questioned as Nana energetically jumped into his lap, "Who's 'we'?"

As if wating for him to ask, Popo, Young Link, and Captain Falcon slowly walked towards him from the doorway. A scowl very apparent on the face of the male Ice Climber. Marth figured her didn't want to come, but bent to his sister's will.

"What are you doing here?" Marth spat at the F-Zero pilot as he acknowleged his presence, venom very distinct in his voice.

"I came here to see Samus..." Falcon replied cockily, "And Dr. Mario asked me to watch the kids too since they wanted to see her." He quickly looked in the opposite direction and forgot about Marth

"Uh huh!" Young Link said, "But Popo didn't want to come! He said it wasn't worth it!"

Marth cocked a suspicious eyebrow at Popo, who hid his face in embarrassment. The Prince wasn't angry. He figured that it must be boring to him to have to come visit someone that you really didn't know when they couldn't even talk to you. Marth blinked a couple more times as Popo began to look more intimidated.

"I didn't mean it like that!" The Ice Climber explained, feeling very small under Marth's gaze, "I just thought you wanted to be alone with her,"

"And why would he want to do that?" Young Link asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Because!" Nana spoke up, "He likes Sammie! Don't you Marth?" The girl had heard through the grapevine about Marth and Samus being a little too _close_, and was naturally curious. She really never thought about the subject of romance, nor had any little crushes, but she thought it was cute the way she had found him. He had looked so happy. She had met Marth before, but he had always had on fake smiles that someone who really paid attention to people would be able to notice. And this question had really been eating at her for a while.

Captain Falcon looked at him with a humored expression. He looked too content for the Prince's liking; as if he wanted to hear the truth, as if it gave him some clarity knowing about things he cared about. Marth nodded slowly to the young girl.

"Hahaha!" Nana said, pumping a proud fist in the air, "I knew it!" She had figured it all along, but never really had paid attention to it until she heard Falco and Fox talking about it yesterday.

Marth had met Nana and Popo before. He warmed up the siblings instantly, and they appeared to like him as well. Popo was a very serious boy, and very protective of his sister, which is why he bravely wanted to protect her from Marth who was the "meanie adult". Nana, on the other hand, was very intergetic and cute. She was practically bouncing off the walls whenever Marth saw her. And as for Young Link... Well, it was kinda hard to miss him. It puzzled him at how fast news spread here, he was positive that Link, Peach, Zelda and Roy were the only other ones who knew, but, it didn't matter anymore.

"Can I call you Uncle Marth?" Nana piped up again looking hopefully at him. Nana was mature enough to know it sounded childish, but she really like Marth as a father figure. He was a really nice guy, and so were most of the people here at the Smash Mansion. She adored them all.

The Altean nodded, "If you want to: It's fine with me." Marth wasn't used to being called anything besides 'Marth' or 'Prince'. And the fact of being refered to as 'Uncle' made him smile. He thought it was quite an honor to earn the respect of Nana, it made him feel important, like he was a big brother or something. Though, he could never replace his sister, he was just happy someone else looked up to him as a brother or something of the like.

Nana giggled in delight and jumped off Marth's lap, earning a grunt from the blue-haired teen.

"Hear that, Popo?" She teased, "Marth is going to let me call him Uncle!" No matter how much Nana grew, she would still posses that childish glint in her eye.

"So?." Popo asked smartly, "Why should I care?"

The two launched into an argument as Marth's gaze went back to Samus, who was indisturbed by all the noise. Her pale skin suited her, and her light blonde hair was hidden by a bandage that wrapped around the gash in her head. He couldn't say that he believed Dr. Mario's diagnosis at all. It was a rude thing to say, but it just seemed unlikely to him; especially after seeing her after the accident. It seemed very unlikely that she would...

"Uncle Marth?"

The blue haired swordsman looked up at Nana's big, inquiring orbs as he broke away from his negative thoughts.

"What is it?" He answered, interested at her curiousity about everything.

"Do you think Samus is pretty?"

Marth gave her a blank stare: Kids asked the oddest questions sometimes.

Captain Falcon's eyes looked up from the floor at Marth, awaiting his answer. Marth was seething inside; if only Nana knew how much her questions made him angrier at Falcon. He couldn't say why, there was just something about talkning about Samus in front of Falcon made him uneasy.

"No," Marth replied finally, "I think she's beautiful,"

Nana smiled, "Uncle Marth is sweet!" she squealed as she pranced around the room.

Young Link and Popo just stuck their tounges out at Marth, "Eww!" they said in unison, Making Marth chuckle, "He thinks girls are pretty!"

It was funny how Popo and Young Link despised the idea of women being beautiful. At that age, Marth figured he was the same, and maybe he was right until he met Samus. But, regardless of what happened now, the only thing he could do for her was bring her flowers, visit her, and give her the occasional peck on the cheek. It wasn't like she knew what he was doing, but he didn't do it so she would see, he did it because it was his way of spreading the affection he felt towards her. And hopefully, during one of his visits, she would wake up and he could gaze into those green eyes he so desperately missed.

Nana instantly stopped dancing around the room, "That's not very nice to say! Especially to your sister!" she repriminded Popo. Marth yet again was snapped from his thoughts as Nana finally replied to the boys' outburst.

Young Link crossed his arms and grinned triumphantly, "Ha, Popo is getting yelled at!"

This set off Popo, who began to yell at Link, and then Nana scolded him for aggitating Popo, and soon all three of them were arguing back and forth.

Captain Falcon walked to the left hand side of the bed and stared at Samus. He gazed at her for a moment. He had to admitt; she was a beautiful girl, just as Marth had said. And if you asked him, Marth didn't deserve her. She needed someone with an edge, someone that could take care of her...

"It's a pity..." He muttered, not looking up. He was too busy vocalizing his thoughts to care what slipped out of his mouth.

"What's a pity?" Marth asked, now on alert.

"That she was stuck with you when this had to be done..." He said, looking up. Falcon never cared for Marth, and he didn't have a problem voicing that fact.

This caught Marth's attention, and sent thoughts swirling through his head. Paranoia was one of those emotions. He didn't like Captain Falcon at all, and all those smug comments weren't helping that fact either.

"What do you mean by "_had" _to be done?" He asked, temper rising. He had figured this all along, and had been too stupid to pursue it before. At first the thought he was just being ignorant and didn't know the facts, but now he was positive.

Sensing an argument, Falcon turned to the three younger kids.

"Why don't you guys go outside and find Dr. Mario? I'm sure he'd love some company with breakfast..." He said smoothly, his eyes resting on an undecided spot on the floor..

"Sure!" Young Link said, guiding the other two out of the room, "Dr. Mario's cool!"

After Marth saw that the others were safely out of the door and out of earshot, he rounded on Falcon again. He stepped a few paces towards the F-Zero Pilot.

"You did this... didn't you?" He questioned is disbelief, "I knew we never saw eye-to-eye Falcon; but I never expected you to take it out on her,"

The captain back off a few steps as Marth began to corner him, "I can't tell you, Marth... Honestly..."

"Just stop backing away from me," Marth said, "We both know you're not scared of me,"

Falcon sighed and stopped backing away, "You're right, there's no sense in resisting the truth,"

Marth just stared painfuly at the captain, "So... You did... do thi-"

He was cut off by Falcon removing a gun from his belt and shoving it at Marth's chest.

"I didn't say that," He said calmly, "If you're smart, you will figure it out." And with that, he promptly turned his back on the prince, his words still hanging in the air.

Marth stared dumbly after the pilot as he left the room, wondering what kind of sick game Falcon was trying to play with him. His gaze when down to the gun in his hands

_'Why does this look so familiar...?'_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Mario ended up throwing everyone out of Samus' room, claiming she needed rest, and Marth and Roy had spent the rest of the day training, and Peach keeping the younger Smashers company.

Bright green leaves rustled in their places on a tree as the wind blew lightly in the late afternoon heat. Two Hylians sat under it in silence.

Link picked at the blades of grass in a lazy fasion, and Zelda just stared off into the distance. Her voice was the one that broke into the quiet.

"Are you worried?" She asked her companion, eyeing him closely as he used his unoccupied hand to brush his blonde bangs behind his ears.

"Of course I am," He replied, "Sam was my first friend here. I'd be heartless not to worry."

Zelda watched as the clouds billowed past them.

"And I think Dr. Mario is keeping something from us..."

Link sighed and stopped picking at the grass, "That's exactly what Marth said," he stated with a sigh, "Don't treat Dr. M. like he's involved in some sort of conspiracy against us; he's a good guy, you know he wouldn't do anything like that,"

Zelda's voice became muffled as she burried her face in her hands.

"I can't help it," She said, "I hate to say it, but it just seems so unlikely... That she would..."

"You need to quit being so negative!" Link interrupted suddenly, "Of course she's not going to get any better if all her friends are expecting her to die!"

Link instantly regreted yelling at her when he heard faint sobs coming from Zelda. He scooted a little closer to her.

_'Oh, what have I done now? I'm such an idiot!'_

"Zel," He said softly, "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to act like that..."

His words were blew to the winds as Zelda just ignored him and continued to try and hide her crying. She hated being vulnerable, mostly because that's how everyone saw her. She wasn't helpless, she was a tough, strong minded individual, and she wanted people to see her like that. But, crying because you got yelled at by a friend really doesn't sculpt that image, does it?

_'I'm so weak,' _She thought hopelessly, _'Link raises his voice to me once and I brake down... Why do his words hurt me like this? He didn't even say anything worth crying over, so why do my emotions go into overdrive when I'm around him?'_

Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt two hands gently griped her wrists and removed her hands from her face. They held her face so gently, but she didn't want Link to see her tears. She didn't mind if he heard them, just as long as he didn't see them.

She stared at Link blankly, tears still falling freely as his icy blue eyes pierced through her. He let go of one of her wrists to use his free hand to wipe a stray tear away with his index finger. Zelda cringed as his skin brushed against her cheek. Which wasn't making this any easier for Zelda. She had tried as hard as she could to be independant when she came here, it was one of the many things she admired about Samus. But, lately, the bounty hunter's shell had been cracked by Marth. Or softened at least. She didn't think that she was ready for that. Her 'shell' hadn't fully developed, and for it to begin to disolve...? No, she couldn't let that happen... She couldn't let her emotions get in the way of her mission to be taken seriously.

"I'm sorry," He repeated, "I shouldn't have said that... It was wrong of me," But, she felt as if she was melting under his gaze.

Zelda shook her head and looked down at the ground, trying to stop herself from looking at Link. "Don't be; you're right, I shouldn't be thinking like that. Besides, I'm a little over-sensitive," She insisted.

Link just chuckled as he let go of her wrists and pulled her into an embrace, "Nah, I should have told you in a different way other than yelling at you," he inisisted as he rubbed her back with his hand in a circular motion. Chills ran up and down Zelda's spine as Link's touch set every inch of her skin on fire. She wrapped her trembling arms slowly around his neck, hesitantly returning the hug. She quietly sighed and enjoyed the warmth of his body. It wasn't like she could just rebuild herself. Whatever she was feeling was eating at her like a wildfire, and causing her to shiver with something that she didn't quite understand.

"Something wrong?" He asked, feeling her shake against his neck, "Are you getting cold?"

Zelda instantly tore from out of his arms, "Yeah!" she lied nervously, "I'm just a little chilly; I think I'll go inside!" Link blinked at her for a moment.

Zelda could never tell Link how scared she got when they were close, or how she felt like she was running a marathon when he touched her. When he was gone, she wanted to be near him, and when he was near, she wanted him gone. It was like some elaborate plan to make her unknown feelings even more confusing. She didn't want these feelings, but they wouldn't go away.

Link smiled and got up, "I'll come with you, then," he said, oblivious to everything floating around in the back of her mind..

Zelda shook her head of her thoughts and stood up, brushing grass of her dress. "Sounds like a plan to me,"

The swordsman stood and offered her his arm, "Shall I escort you, Princess?" he teased.

The princess just laughed, "Only if you are willing to have me, Sir Link," This was when she felt at home, when they were just having a conversation as friends. This is what she was familiar with.

Zelda joined arms with Link as they both walked back towards the mansion, their feet making silent crunching noises in the soft grass.

"Oh, Link, look!" Zelda breathed, using her free hand to point toward the sky.

Link shot her an award winning smirk, "Yes, it's the sunset..."

Zelda chuckled, "Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about; I mean look at the orange color it makes,"

Link stopped and curiously looked up at the sky to reveal the orange that streaked the vast space like paint smeared on a canvas. The light was begining to fade, and everything in it's path was now drenched in it's color.

"Beautiful... isn't it?" She asked in awe.

Link nodded, "Yes, it is,"

Though, he looked straight at Zelda as he said this, making her blush.

"I've always enjoyed the color more than the sunsetting itself," She explained red-faced and starring in the opposite direction. There were those stupid feelings that she hated so much, so apparent in her body language and mind. Why did she have to bring up the stupid subject?

"But don't most people watch the color instead of the sunset anyway?" Link inquired.

Zelda shook her head, " No, Peach likes to watch the sun go down, she said it was because it gets cool outside, making the atmosphere romantic," Peach told her that she used to watch them when she was smaller, it wasn't until now Zelda understood why they seemed to work that way for people.

Link laughed, "That sounds like something she would say."

The royal looked back up to Link, "Well, isn't it true?" she asked.

Link just scratched his head, "I've always enjoyed the color more myself, so I guess I never thought of the setting to be romantic or anything... But, I guess now that you say it, I see what you mean."

"Yes," Zelda agreed, "For friends I guess it would just be a nice sight to see,"

_'Just friends?' _

For some odd reason, Link found himself reluctant to grasp that concept. He had known it for the past seven years, but why did the comment hurt so much now? The sunset did have a loving aura, but he shouldn't be feeling it around the presence of one of his best friends. Now things were starting to complicate. It was just like meeting someone for the first time. You shook hands with them and smile a nervous smile, trying to take in everything about this person and figure out what they like so you can start a bond so you don't have to constantly be trying to figure them out all the time. But even though he knew all those things about Zelda, he still felt like he was learning about her. Like, when she smiled, it was as if it was the first time, or when she blinked, or laughed, or got angry. It was almost like seeing a whole new side to someone, only to discover you found it because they were showing it to you without knowing about it.

A soft but chilled breeze blew by the pair. Link inhaled the sweet scent. He didn't know if it was from the bloomed flowers, or from the person standing beside him.

"But, I guess I know what she meant by the cool part," He confessed, breaking the silence, "I think it's time we head inside."

A grin pulled at Zelda's features, "I guess you're right," she said, as they both continued their walk to the door.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon entering, they noticed Roy sitting with Peach on the couch. Ness, Young Link, Nana, and Popo sitting close by, entertained by story that the general was telling with great emotion. The both of them seemed to be getting along pretty well, they each took turns telling a part of the story. Both Link and Zelda were relieved to see the two working together without fighting, and Roy seemed to be enjoying himself.

"And then he slayed the evil dragon by burying the sword in its heart!" Roy cried, snatching his sword from it's sheath along his slender waist and thrusting it into the air to emphasize his point.

Nana just looked up in awe, "Ooh, that's so neat Uncle Roy!"

The red-head's goofy grin just faded as he heard 'Uncle' put in front of his name.

"She got to you too?" Said a very mellow voice from behind, humor seaping through its tone.

Roy lowered his sword to see Marth slowly striding in with his usual graceful manner.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The general asked. He was honestly confused.

Marth allowed himself a small smile as a reluctant laughed passed by his lips, "Nothing, it's just that she calls me Uncle as well... I think it's adorable,"

Roy nodded for Peach to continue the story as he sheathed his blade.

"That adorable comment sounded slightly odd when you said it," He retorted in his usual joking voice. Roy knew half the things he said weren't true, but that still didn't stop him from joking around.

Marth shook his head, "Not as odd as the fact that she looks up to you enough to call you Uncle." He justified, "Sometimes I wonder if you are truly naive..."

Roy just shot him a sour glance as Nana began to clap in happy, upbeat pattern, "Yay! The princess finally found her Prince Charming!" she hummed happily. He just stared at he blankly until he came to a revelation:

Apparently Peach had finished the story.

Young Link and Popo just stood up, scowls on their faces and eyes rolled. Similar to when Marth called Samus beautiful earlier.

"Nana, don't believe those fairy tales; they're just made up! A Princess really wouldn't end up falling in love with a guy that she hated!" Popo warned, seeing the expression of awe on his sister's face.

Link and Zelda let go of each other's arms, starring at Peach as she cocked her head to one side.

"Well," Peach began after gathering her thoughts, "You're on the right track, Popo, but you can find yourself falling in love with the oddest people. People that you've always taken for granted and never liked; just like in the fairy tale."

Everyone in the room and just looked with interest at the blonde. Even Popo seemed a little less cynical after her little speech. Peach seemed to have really believed what she said, and that's what spiked Roy's curiousity. He had always thought that she was a believer in those sappy 'Happily ever after' type things, but it was never confirmed.

"But then again," She said as an instant change of heart, "Things like that never happen..."

Roy just looked at Peach who was sitting a few feet away from him, a half-hearted smile on her face, which he knew was forced. It wasn't hard to see that she was embarrassed. The aura of discomfort and slight pink of her cheeks were a definate dead give-away. Not to mention the distaste and personal pain in her voice when she degraded the fairy tales' ending. The skeptical tone and overall hatred. Apparently she wasn't a believer in the 'opposites attract' theory. Peach had really been acting bipolar lately. She would be happy one second, and the next she would change her opinion instantly, and become angry and ticked at the smallest things.

And she was definately relieved when Marth broke the silence as he stared out the window.

"Ah, that's a lovely sunset," He stated as he leaned on the window seal and looked outside, his eyes giving off a rare cheery glint, "Samus would enjoy this if she could see it..."

_'It's funny how some thing keep coming up...' _Zelda thought with a smile as she thought back to her encounter a few minutes ago. It had seemed so awkward then, but now, it was just an enjoyable memory.

Peach looked up and left her spot on the couch to stand beside Marth. She stared blankly out the window, as if captivated by the thought of someone enjoying something as stupid as a sunset.

"I used to think they were romantic..." She said slowly, "When I was small, of course. Now, I know they do nothing for you; they're only a pleasure to look at,"

Peach really made Marth think for a moment as he looked at the side of her blonde head. So, this was the optimistic princess that he had heard so much about before coming here. The one that seemed to never have a bad day in her life... The one that had convinced him to take the first step in his fantasy love.

Now, she was making fun of the very thing that she talked to him about just a month before. It's funny how opinions change like that, isn't it? One minute you're on top of the world, and the next you're plunging deeper and deeper down into the hole you dug for yourself, but see fit to say that everyone else is to blame for your misfortune. When all it really is, is your reaction to something that didn't exactly go your way. Some people had their chances, and for Peach, she had blew a chance she really didn't want.

Yes, during all the time she had to think, she realized that she turned Roy down because she didn't want him. Yet, all this time she beat herself for breaking his heart and all that other rubbish. She knew she didn't care about him, but for some reason she regretted it, and couldn't figure out why. What was this unknown feeling that plagued her?

Well, her heart said denile, but her mind denied that as well.

"You know," Marth began, his smirk demolished, "you didn't have to go that far as to say all that... You know you are lying to yourself."

Peach just laughed. It wasn't one of her trademark humored laughs, or her occasional laughs of merriment. It was filled with cold disbelief, and made Marth shiver inwardly as he felt his hair stand on end.

"I'm not lying, Marth," She iced humorlessly, "Sometimes fairy tales lie,"

As much as he didn't want to, Marth had to agree. His fairy tale was struggling along a narrow road. His love was laying in a hospital bed in Dr. Mario's examining room, and there was a gun on his bedside table, caked with dried blood and holding the answers to all of his questions. And what's worse is living with the person that you were fairly sure did it, and not being able to do anything, knowing you could be wrong just the same.

"That's very true," He said as his sad sapphire eyes bore into her, "but that doesn't stop you from telling them... Does it?"

Peach gave a scoff as she lightly pushed him away, as if to keep his comforting words from reaching her, "No, but it does stop me from believing them."

Marth just reached down and gently grabbed the hand that shoved him away.

"Did you know," He cradled her hand then lifted it up as if inspecting it, "That words can hurt the heart as much as hands can hurt the body?"

The Mushroom Princess just jerked back her hand, almost in disgust of his failed attempts to make her think "And did you know that poser psychologists who try to figure me out get on my nerves also?"

Marth just chuckled at her venom fuled comment.

"Yes," He said softy, "That's why I'm being a friend and giving you advice so you don't have to pay a visit to one of those 'poser psychologists', since you seem to be sucking all the joy out of you life lately."

"Just leave me alone, Marth," Peach snarled suddenly as she turned her back on him, "You of all people should know you can't force what won't go! You have to give it _time_! Or maybe you're just not aware of how_ much _time..."

She quickly wiped her misty eyes as she quickly walked out of the living room, the rest of her friends staring blankly at her as her pace got faster as soon as she was in the familiar dark corridor. She leaned her back against the wall, before sliding carelessly down to let out a sob escape that she had been keeping in for a long time. Peach was just glad to be alone again... She didn't regret being rude to Marth... For once in her life, she was conceited enough to believe that every choice she had every made was the right one.

That is, until she heard faint footsteps that seemed to grow louder and start to echo as the unknown person got closer to her.

She hoped she was just hearing things as she hugged her knees close to her. Forming a shell that she didn't want anyone to break. Through the cracks between her proped up knees, she could make out a pair of boots as the person kneeled beside her.

"Peach?" The familiar male voice asked gently, "Are you okay?"

Peach hated when people asked her that... It was usually one of the most obvious questions ever.

She was sitting in the middle of a dark hallway, crying into her knees after telling off a friend who had done nothing but try to help her... How did she look like she felt?

"Peach?" The boy repeated as he layed on of his hands on her shoulder, gently shaking her.

Her head snapped up to stare at dark red hair.

"Roy, if you're here to make me feel bad with your crappy humor, it's not going to work! So just do me a favor and leave me alone!" She snapped, burying her head in the arch of her propped up knees and procceeded to cry brokenly and openly.

She felt the material of Roy's shirt brush against her as he sat beside her against the wall, hurt drenching his usual happy composure. To her surprise and discomfort, he rested his head on her shoulder, and she looked up to see tears falling from his soft eyes. For once, she didn't feel like pushing Roy away, she actually wanted him to be around her. Or maybe she was just desperate to have something to cling to. She wished she knew how he got himself to cry. It was... sweet... Maybe he had problems similiar to hers.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do..." He said simply, clearing his throat, "If you want to cry, then I want to cry too."

She looked blankly at him, sniffing loudly as her sinuses opened from her sobs.

"But, why?" She asked, "I thought you hated me... So why are you trying to make me feel better?"

Roy stared at her, "Remember when I asked you out?" he asked quietly.

Peach nodded, memories of that night filling her mind.

"Well," He began, "Maybe we don't have any feelings for each other, but there's still a thin line between love and hate. ...And I think we've broken it,"

Peach allowed herself a small smile. She must have looked like a mess. Hair dishelved from the run, tear stained cheeks, and a horrible attitude to beat. But, despite all that, she was happy.

"Friends?" She sniffed. Maybe she wasn't ready for a commitment like Samus, or maybe she was waiting for the right guy.

Or maybe he was right in front of her and she didn't notice...

Either way, she felt something creep on her that she hadn't seen coming, and she was enjoying every pang of comfort it brought. She extended her hand out for the shaking.

Roy smiled brightly.

"Friends." He confirmed. But, instead of shaking her hand, he mearly gripped it and pushed it gently back down to her side.

Peach gave him a confused glance, but either he ignored her, or didn't notice, because he quickly wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Handshakes are too formal," He explained, "if we're gonna be friends, then we can't walk around acting like we just met, right?"

Peach uncertainly snaked her arms around his neck and smiled, "Yeah, I guess..." she said, hiding the fact that she was very much enjoying being in his arms.

_'See, there you go!' _She scolded herself mentally, _'Acting like you have feelings for him! ...You remember what happened before...'_

But, for once, Peach blocked out her inner thoughts, and let her feelings guide the way.

And it felt... Good.

It felt like she was right where she was supposed to be. Like everything stopped, but she kept going. It felt painfully wonderful.

That night, Peach finally let go of her old flame, and welcomed the new flame that was being ignited. It sounded odd, but maybe this was what she needed all along. No jokes, no hiding behind hatred... And no lying.

Maybe... they were both where they needed to be.

Little known to them, a certain blue haired swordsman was watching nearby, a smirk once again gracing his features. He wasn't sure if it was romance, but he knew it wasn't just friendship as Roy tried so hard to make it out as.

"See what happens when you listen to youself, Peach?" He muttered silently, remembering the story that Roy and Peach had just related to the younger Smashers.

"Hmmm, the princess falling in love with the Prince Charming she always hated... Maybe fairy tales aren't fake..."

And with that, he quietly left the end of the hallway, returning to the company of his friends.

"Are Uncle Roy and Aunt Peach okay, Uncle Marth?" Nana asked, holding hands with Link and Zelda, "Is there anything I can do?"

Marth didn't know when, but Nana started calling all the older males in the mansion 'Uncle', and the females, 'Aunt'. He guessed it was because they were like family to the younger ones.

"It's okay," The Prince replied to the worried girl, "they're just begining their fairy tale,"

He winked at Link and Zelda, "Along with a few others..." he added, making the two Hylians blush. Though, neither had quite caught on to all the 'fairy tale' mess Marth had just recently started babbling about.

"He speaks nonsense," Link insisted to Nana, who caught the red on his cheeks.

"I didn't name any names," Marth teased his friend, "Do you have something you wish to tell me... Sir Link?"

Link turned his back on Marth, "C'mon, Nana," he said to the small girl as he lead her in the direction of the kitchen, "Uncle Link wants to bake you a yummy cake!" He was in quite a hurry to sneak away from the prying prince before he suffered any further humiliation.

Nana agreed instantly, whereas Popo and Young Link burst out laughing.

"Bake a cake?" Popo cried through tears of merriment, "What a girly-man!"

The two swapped jokes about Link secretly putting on make-up and wearing wigs, cheeks red from the heavy giggles. Link really hoped he wasn't that imature at that age.

Their laughter continued as Link came to a stop.

"That's too bad you think like that," He said playfully, "Because I was going to make enough for everyone... But since you think it's girly..." he trailed off.

"No!" Popo and the young Hylian yelled in unison at the mention of 'everyone', "Baking a cake is very manly!"

Having said that, the two ran after Nana and Link in a very 'dignified' manner into the empty kitchen.

Marth shrugged and plopped down on the couch, Zelda sitting quietly down beside him.

"Falcon showed me a gun today..." He said as if he was talking about the weather. Being blunt was always Marth's way of keeping under control. If you treating odd things like regular occurances, then there were no surprises.

Zelda raised an eyebrow, "What for?" she asked. She put her hands neatly folded in her lap, and stared up at her friend. After the accident with Samus, he spent every moment he could cramped up in the examining room, and hearing about him actually talking to Falcon worried her. She continued to stare him down for an answer.

"It was caked with blood," Her companion added, ignoring her question, "...I think he did it," No, that was an understatement; Marth KNEW the captain did it.

Zelda put a hand on Marth's shoulder, "You know you can't do anything rash, right?" she asked.

She knew Marth wasn't a violent person, but he didn't take up the fact that he could be wrong. And she knew things like that made his decisions seem extreme. And the way he casually told her; it seemed as if he was holding in his angered emotions and expertly disguising it under his mysteriously calm and cool attitude. But she knew Marth too well to fall for it.

Marth nodded in reply to her question, "I know Zel, but I can't think of anyone else that would want to do that to her... And the way I treated Falcon a while back; he didn't seem to happy about it." He said sadly, "I didn't want her to suffer for my ignorance..."

Zelda noddded knowingly. "I know, but you had a good reason to get angry at Falcon. When I first met him myself, I liked him. He seemed like an okay person. You shouldn't hold a grudge against Falcon for what he said about Peach. It was wrong, but, people can change."

Marth looked into Zelda's eyes. In them, he saw the forgiving nature that she had implanted in herself.

"How are you so forgiving?" He asked seriously, "I've watched you and tried to figure it out; but I can't."

Zelda sighed and looked down at the floor. "I guess I never liked the idea of holding grudges against people, so I just started trusting everyone,"

Marth watched her as she stared down at her feet. She was right; he couldn't hold it against Falcon about the Peach incident. But, that didn't stop him from still thinking the F-Zero pilot had something to do with Samus. And if he did, he would pay dearly.

"I see," He mumbled. Truth be told, he felt a little guilty for still being angry at his nemisis. It just didn't seem right; Falcon hadn't messed with him, and he hadn't even spoken to him again until today. But, whatever the feelings he had, he still didn't trust the captain, and wouldn't rest until he caught him in his web of lies.

He broke from his thought as he felt Zelda patting his shoulder.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked. The princess didn't like the silence Marth was giving her, it was almost a plotting type silence.

"I'm thinking of solving this little mystery," He replied, "And I'm wondering if you'll help me,"

Zelda was speechless for a moment. She wanted to know who hurt Samus as much as Marth did, but the way his said it was full of malice. Plus, she didn't know what she was meddling in; it could be dangerous for them both.

"I-I don't know, Marth..." She began hesitantly, "a-are you sure I _can_ help you...?"

The swordsman cleared his throat. "It's fine if you don't; I just wanted to know so I can at least have another mind on the team..." he trailed off.

Zelda let out a deep sigh and squeezed her eyes shut as she thought. She remembered that she wanted to be taken seriously, and if she were to help Marth, maybe she wouldn't seem like the damsel in distress anymore, and she'd feel fufilled enough to get rid of this feeling of wanting someone.

Marth continued to softly eye her, waiting for an answer.

"I'll do it," Zelda decided. _'And I'll finally prove that I can stand up for myself,' _she thought as a side-note.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roy's eyes studied Peach's wide orbs for a while as they sat in silence. This was the first time that they had ever just sat down and talked without arguing with each other. He didn't really know what to say, either. If if was a relief, or a pain. He felt really comfortable when they were arguing. And to be truthful, this silence was really starting to get to him. He quickly tore from the embrace that they had been locked in and stood up.

He cleared his throat. "I'm ready to head back to the others... Are you?" He asked suddenly.

Truth be told, she had never been ashamed to face them in the first place. But, the way her and Roy were acting with each other, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Even though she was positive she didn't have any feelings for him, she still wanted to be in that embrace. For once, to be needed in a way that you couldn't even comprehend. Roy offered her his hand while waiting for a reply.

"Yes," She said finally, as if trying to convince him shehad been going through some sort of crisis, taking his hand.

Roy smiled warmly and pulled her up. "Then let's go."

They both set off toward the living room, which wasn't far away. And they knew it wouldn't be crowded since most of the Smashers were in their rooms. While walking, Roy wondered a couple of things for himself.

What did he want from Peach? And why was he acting so kind towards her when he himself said that he loved to tease her? It was a complicated issue for him. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. With every brain cell in his head, he couldn't figure out why these things wanted to bother him now, when he lost all feelings for Peach...

WHAM!

Roy's nose came in contact with someones door frame, and he yelped in pain as blood began to trickle down the side of his mouth.

Ness quickly rushed out his open door, alerted by the sudden noise.

"Gosh, Roy! Are you okay?" He asked, slightly worried.

Peach whiped out a hot pink handkerchief and handed to Roy, hiding the fact that she was giggling madly.

Ness only smiled at Roy's mouth agape and slipped back in his room.

The pyro quickly tipped his head back and groaned in pain as he placed the lacy cloth over his nose.

"That hurt like heck," He muttered to Peach as he held the handky in place.

"That's what you get for trying to walk down the hallway with you eyes closed," She said matter-of-factly, still surpressing laughs.

Roy just glared at her out of the corner of his eye as crimson liquid soaked onto the soft pink fabric. "You're a jerk; you know that?"

Peach just laughed, "I think is going to be an interesting friendship..."

Roy smiled ather use of the word 'friendship'. "Yeah; I think you're right," He removed Peach's handkerchief from his nose, relieved to see that the blood flow hadstopped.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two entered the living room to see it empty. They looked around a little confusedly until they heard shuffling in the kitchen.

Roy and Peach peaked around the door to see Link cutting a rather large cake.

"Nice to see you too again," Marth said from the left of them as he saw the pair.

Roy stratched the back of his head. "Heh. Well, we decided that we couldn't let you eat that all by yourselves!"

Zelda smiled, "But Nana, Popo, and Young Link are helping as well," she said, motioning to the three youngsters who were standing nearby.

"Brats..." Roy grumbled, "I'll get those midgets one day..."

Popo, who heard, gave him a dirty look before aiming his wide, innocent orbs at Link. "Thanks, Link, for making this for us." He said sweetly.

Link beamed at him. "No problem." And with that he set three plates down on the large table and Nana, Popo, and Young Link sat down and began to slowly eat, conversing most of the time.

Peach looked up at Link with an impressed glance. "Wow, Link," she began, "I didn't know that you could bake. And you didn't kill anybody in the proccess!"

Link chuckled, "There's a lot about me that you guys don't know about..." He said mysteriously as heput a forth slice beside Popo, "Like I know a certain big baby really enjoys cake, eh, Roy?"

The Hylian looked up for his friend's response, but he noticed that Roy was already sitting at the spot he made for him. Link shook his head in shame.

Marth looked over to Roy who was procceeding to start an argument with Young Link. "He's always had a sweet tooth," he explained with a sigh.

Nana looked up at Peach. "Did you and Uncle Roy finish your fairy tale?" she asked, oblivious to what Marth had meant.

Roy sputtered out cake everywhere and Peach looked at her with utter shock.

"What's that supposed to mean?" They asked angrily in unison.

Nana shrugged.

"I don't know," She said smoothly, "Uncle Marth just said that you two were begining your fairy tale, so I wondered if you had finished it since you came back..."

Roy slammed his two hands flat on the table loudly and stood up abruptedly. "MARTH, WHAT KIND OF JUNK ARE YOU FILLING THESE KID'S HEADS WITH!" He screeched, "YOU'RE TAINTING THEIR MINDS WITH YOUR POETIC/METAPHORIC CRAP!"

Marth only chuckled. "It doesn't mean anything, so why are you worried... What are you implying...?" He said slyly with a smug grin.

Roy's temples began to throb as he flushed dark red in annoyance. "I'm not implyng anything," He fired back darkly through clenched teeth, but in a slightly softer tone.

"Uh, Roy,"

The swordman looked down at his name to see Popo staring up at him. "Yes," He replied, a tint of aggrivation in his voice.

"What's that pink thing in your pocket?"

Roy's eyes darted down to his waist see the bloodied handkercheif still hanging out of his left pocket. He wordlessly ripped it fromits confinementand balled it up to put a little extra weight on it as he tossed the light object to Peach, who quickly snatched it in midair. He sat down and continued to eat in silence. Could things _get_ any more awkward?

Peach, who had been blushing the whole time, just looked at the floor. Link just shrugged and began having a conversation with Marth.

"What _did _Marth mean when he said all that fairy tale stuff?" Zelda asked, leaning in to Peach's ear, "Is it some sort of inside joke?"

The Mushroom Princess just gazed over at Roy, who was staring down at his plate absentmindedly, "Something like that..." She said to her clueless friend.

But, even in the midst of all that embarrassment,Peach couldn't help but smile.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know it's a weird way to end a chapter, but I hoped you liked it all the same, because I think it's my longest chapter. And yay! Some Zelink and Roy/Peach! Oh, and sorry if the 'fairy tale' stuff was getting on your nerves, since I referenced it in last chapter once or twice too. I promise, the fairy tale stuff is over with! I just thought it would be kinda interesting.

Creditsfor my reviews go to the following:

**Babykoalaprincess**

**Black Light Princess**

**Royal Kenya**

**BabyGurl278**

**crystalicios**

**RoyalFanatic**

Uh, and that's it! I only got six for last chapter. Well, please review; it means a lot to me! Especially after writing all of that fluff and crap. Well, goodbye for now, my floppy fishies!

-Sage


	9. Surprises and Promises

Lies and Mistakes

Chapter 9: Surprises and Promises

By Sage of Downtown Hyrule

Disclaimer: I don't own SSBM. If I did, it would be an Action/Romance/Adventure game.

Authoress' Note: Not much to say about this chapter, except that I worked hard on it and I will love you forever if you continue reading. On a side note, I got my first flame last chapter, so congrats to me! I would love to give you a summary type thing, but that would ruin everything.

Enjoy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link's head rested on the chilled glass of a window as he stared at the motionless person beside him. He blinked a couple of times; thinking of the last three of days without his friend that seemed to drag on like years. It had taken some effort to shoo Marth out of the presence of 'his one true love'. Link chuckled at the sappy name that Marth had made for her, but at the same time, he thought it was one of the sweetest things he had ever heard.

Roy, of course, still teased the prince about it every chance he got. Link had never known Roy to be a compassionate person, so he figured the hot-head was too numb to the subject to really take in the phrase's deep meaning.

He had been musing over Samus Aran for a while now. About how things like that never seemed to add up. The motives for hurting someone in such a heartless way... What could they be?

Link looked over to an elegant vase filled with a type of flower he couldn't identify. They were begining to wilt. Marth had brought them for Samus, and they were a pure, white color. He was tempted to go look around in the garden in the small courtyard they had around the mansion for the flowers, but he was almost positive that Marth would get around to changing them sometime today; he spent most of his leisure time in here.

Often times on impulse, he would lean over Samus to hear her rhythmic breathing, just to make sure she was still alive. He didn't doubt or anything, it was just so weird to see someone so full of life as the bounty hunter, completely still and pale.

Though, her skin was naturally pale to begin with.

Thunder crackled loudly outside. Link jumped from the noise and stared blankly out the window as tiny raindrops began to lightly pelt the window.

He looked further outside to see dark grey clouds floating above in the ominous sky. He hadn't even realized it was dark outside. He noticed someone who looked to have a blue head raced near the courtyard at an alarming speed.

He allowed himself a small grin; that was definately Marth.

Link stood up from his seat and shot a thoughtful glance over at Samus. She almost looked to be sleeping, and she looked pretty peaceful, too.

He smiled sadly, his head full of things that he wished she could hear.

"I miss you,"

"Get well soon,"

The usual. That's all he really wanted right now; he wanted her to know she was missed.

The knob on the examining room turned slowly, and Marth burst through the door, Roy giggling behind him.

Link gave him a confused stare as water rolled off his dark blue locks in thin trails.

"What in the world were you doing?" Link breathed as Marth trudged across the room; wet shoes making squeaky noises with each step.

"I'm replacing Samus' white flowers," The Altean grumbled as he took the browning flowers out of the vase on the bedside table and replaced them with the freshly picked ones.

Roy walked farther in the room. "He wanted to bring her some fresh flowers," he explained, "And wanted to try and act sexy by sprinting out in the pouring rain like the wannabe bishie he is to get them,"

Marth just ignored his friend's comment and stood on the left side of Samus' bed and looked at her with sorrowful eyes for a moment.

"I love you," He mumbled as he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her bittersweet lips.

Roy made gagging noises with his throat.

"Dude," He said, "don't you know kissing unconscience girls gives you a bad reputation?"

Marth lifted his lips from Samus' and cleared his throat, pointing a finger at the pyro maniac.

"Not anymore than kissing your own reflection in the mirror makes you egotistic," He justified, pushing his wet blue bangs out of his face.

Roy huffed angrily. "I told you! There was something on my lips so I bent down farther to inspect it!"

Link lifted a cynical brow, "Yeeeeeeeah... That's why you had to clean slobber off the mirror, right?"

Roy blushed a deep crimson.

"I'm not talking about this anymore!" He stated, "Let's talk about something else!"

Marth grinned for a moment then looked down at the bounty hunter.

"I think we should give her some rest," He said slowly, looking up at his friends. Both nodded.

"I have more people to torment, anyway," Roy said as he left through the open door. Marth and Link wordlessly followed behind him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zelda sat in a chair reading a book. She pursed her lips tightly together as he eyes scanned the pages. Peach groaned.

"Where are those idiots?" She asked aloud, "I'm bored!"

Zelda shrugged, not looking up from her book.

"I don't know," She replied, rubbing the side of her face sleepily, "I just know that I'm ready to take a nap."

The Mushroom Princess just rolled her eyes, "You're a sad girl, Zellie..."

"How so?" Zelda asked, grinning as she looked up from her book.

Peach scratched her head, "I don't know; I just felt like saying something..."

Zelda rolled her eyes and continued reading.

"Hey," Peach began after a few moments of silence, lifting her index finger in an inquiring fashion, "Wasn't Marth playing in the rain earlier?"

Zelda lowered her book and thought for a minute.

"I'm not sure..." She replied, "But, I think I DID see him outside,"

A flash of lightning shown through the window against the dark background outside as rain continued to pound against the windows and roof.

"Wow," Peach said to no one in particular as she looked at the storm outside, "He played in _that_...? ... Wow, men _are_ idiots..."

Zelda just sighed and shook her head, grinning at Peach's statement.

"Did I hear a witch?" A familiar boyish voice called out, accompanied by heavy footsteps.

Peach huffed sarcasticaly, knowing exactly who it was.

"No, Roy," She growled, "I only heard the annoying voice of a jerk who's about to get his head RIPPED OFF!"

The red-haired swordsman only grinned as he turned and headed for her chair. Peach quickly cramed herself farther into her chair and stopped breathing as Roy leaned in front of her, faces almost touching.

"Well," He breathed, "I guess that's what friends do, huh?"

Peach gave a weak nod, not being able to catch enough air to speak a decent sentence. Roy smiled, and that's when the princess noticed that he had was cradling her hand in his.

"We're pals, not aquaintances," He reminded, seeing her gaze snap down to his hands, "so it means absolutely nothing."

Roy pulled himself up straight to see Link giving him a confused glance, and he just shrugged in return.

Peach, on the other hand, looked absolutely breathless, and her hand felt like it was burning up. It was a bit of a rush, something she knew she shouldn't be feeling, it made her angry to know that he was teasing her. Leaning close to her, holding her hand, shooting the first shot of the war in her mind... What was he trying to do?

'_**Is** he trying to do anything...?' _She began as a second thought, _'It could just be my imagination, err, nightmare,'_

"Where's Marth?" Zelda asked, seeing Link and Roy without the fifth addtion to their shortened group.

"Uh, he's getting cleaned up back in the room," Link confirmed, "He was outside earlier picking flowers for Samus when it began to rain,"

Peach scoffed.

"Puh-leese!" She said, "He ran out _in_ it!"

Roy just looked humored, but, surprisingly, kept his mouth closed. Peach eyed him for split second, then shook her gaze back over to Link.

"So the guy likes to be a little over-dramatic? I know plenty of people like that," He defended, crossing his arms.

Peach lifted an eyebrow, "Who?"

"You," Zelda said bluntly, reading again in her book.

Peach shook her head in shame, "Zelie, I thought you were on my side!"

The blonde princess only smiled, "I don't pick sides,"

Roy looked up at the clock, "He should be getting down soon; he started his shower like thirty minutes ago," he said.

"You shan't have to wait any longer," Marth said upon entering the room, bowing elegantly. He stopped and looked around the room at his friends.

"Greetings my lovely princesses," he said, "And Link," as an afterthought.

Roy shot him a dirty look, "You're not funny..."

"Actually, that was kind of funny," Peach replied, still giggling.

That's when Roy's trademark michevious glint returned to his eyes.

"Marth," he called to his friend, "Would you do me a favor?"

The prince nodded, and waited for him to name his task.

"First," Roy said, "Walk up to Zelda."

Marth walked over to Zelda, who looked up from her book at the mention of her name.

"Are you and Zelda _just_ friends, Marth?" He asked.

Marth gave him a funny look, "You know Samus is the only one I care about as more than a friend," he replied.

"Okay then," Roy said, "Now I need you to hold her hand and look into her eyes."

Marth looked down at Zelda, "Would you mind indulging him?" he asked, extending his hand.

Zelda laughed, "Sure; I'm a little curious as to where he's going with this,"

The Altean took her hand and looked into her eyes, while Zelda was trying to keep a straight face. Marth was already muffling chuckles.

"Do either of you feel warmer, or breathless," Roy asked from behind.

Marth and Zelda looked at him like he'd been dropped from an aircraft carrier and shook their heads no.

Roy curtsied slightly, "That ends my experiement, thank you for your cooperation,"

Marth released her hand and stood up to full height.

"Now," He began, "What exactly did that prove?"

"That's my_ little secret_," Roy answered with a cocky smirk, "But if you must have an answer, you can say that I very much enjoyed seeing the two of you in such an intimate position!"

Zelda rolled her eyes, "Roy, you are one in a million..."

Peach didn't think that was Roy's real reason, she personally thought it was directed to her to try and prove a point. But, she didn't exactly know why; her feelings and reactions were of no concern to him...

... Were they...?

"I'm telling Sam!"

Roy's teasing voice broke the princess from her thoughts.

Marth looked at him wide eyed. "You will do no such thing," he said darkly.

Roy put a finger to his lips and donned an innocent smile, "I wouldn't, would I...?" he said as almost a question.

Marth kept his cool and smirked. "Samus would never believe that I was cheating on her with Zelda, Roy Boy,"

Link laughed, "Especially since most of what Roy says is lies..."

"Not to mention she can't hear you..." Marth said to himself with distaste, hurt dominating his face.

"Uh, Marth," Peach said slowly, "Roy left twenty seconds ago..."

The swordsman ran a frustrated hand through his blue hair, "I better go get him before he upsets Dr. Mario by barging into his examining room," he said as he left the other three.

Roy giggled evily to himself as he sprinted up the stairs and began the voyage down the long corridor.

"I'm a jerk, jerk, J-E-R-K!" He chanted as he ran into Mario, who had been walking down the hallway, knocking the short man to the ground.

"S-sorry, Doc!" Roy apologized as he helped his victim off the floor, "I didn't mean to!"

Dr. Mario's expression remain neutral.

"Have you seen Marth today?" He asked, not looking up at the general.

Roy looked behind him to see Marth's hair poke out from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah," He choked out, "He's right behind me,"

Roy had only regretted two choices he had made. The first one was telling Peach his feelings for her the first time, and the second time was poking fun at Samus' and Marth's relationship a few minutes before. He didn't have any idea of why he was worried, but, he feared the worst. Samus was his friend, and the tone and face that the Doctor possessed didn't ease his suspiciousions in the least. Roy stood there, sincerely quiet. Being a prankster brought you more guilt than just about anything else.

Marth had silently made his way to the pair.

"Is something wrong?" He asked quietly, catching a saddened sniff from Roy who was hiding his face.

"Come with me," Doctor Mario said simply, leading the exiled leader to his room. Marth followed slowly, a mix of emotions etching into his mind. Roy stood behind, staring sadly after them, fearing for both of his friends.

The door clicked as Mario opened it and led him to the adjoining room's door. Marth was about to open it when it swung open itself.

The pair on the outside of the door sidestepped out of the way to avoid getting hit as Master Hand floated wordlessly past them.

"Was he in there?" Marth asked, jerking a finger in the direction of Master Hand's departure.

Dr. Mario nodded.

"Yes, that's when... it happened..." He trailed of and gestured for Marth to enter the room himself.

With a nervous gulp, Marth mustered up all the courage he could to face what he knew was gonna be the worse tragedy of his life. He opened the door and it slowly creaked open...

"Samus!" He cried as he ran to the girl's bedside. Throwing every ounce of strength to the side, he flung his arms around her neck and sobbed into her shoulder.

"I'm so happy you're awake," He said quietly and oddly calm he said as he rubbed the girl's back. His voice was down to mere cracks.

Samus' nails dug into the fabric of Marth's shirt as she clung to him for dear life. He pulled from her and tenderly grasped her shoulders as he looked into her fire green eyes. They held an emotion that the bounty hunter had never displayed before.

... And that emotion was fear.

"S-Samus... What's wrong...? Nothing else happened to you in that alley, did it?" He asked as his eyes glassed over with concern.

Despite her fear, Samus smiled and wiped Marth's lingering tears away, "Nothing," she assured quietly, "It just scared me... I don't remember much... but..."

She attempted to sit up, but she felt a rush to her head as pain seered up from her spine and dug itself mercilessly into the back of her brain. She yelped and salty tears unwillingly pushed themselves out of the corner of her eyes. She griped her head in anguish as Marth stared at her and pushed a strand of pale hair out of her face.

"Are you okay?" He asked, "I can go get Dr. Mario if you want."

Samus squeezed his hand and sniffed.

"No," She said firmly, "I asked for him to go get you so I could see_ you_... Besides, I've been a weak damsel in distress for everyone the past couple of days,"

Marth shook his head, "No you haven't; everyone was worried about you... Especially me,"

A blush crept up Samus' cheeks.

She hesistated before asking, "Does _everyone_ know about you being my boyfriend?"

Marth thought about his answer for a bit.

"Well," He began, "I don't really _want_ to be your_ boyfriend_..."

After hearing those words, Samus felt like her spirit was being ripped into fifty pieces. She tried to say something, but her words were lumping in her throat. It felt as if everything around her crashed, and she was alone... again. She tried once more, but the only thing that her mouth produced was unreadable movements. She saw the male in front of her stare down at her will soft eyes. She looked back for a moment, hiding her eyes with her bangs so he couldn't see the heartbreak seeping through. She was finally able to make sounds.

"I-I don't get it... I t-thought that..." She managed before being interrupted.

Marth silenced her attempts at a protest by pulling their faces closer together and capturing her lips in a passionate kiss, earning a moan from the bounty hunter. She didn't know what she wanted him to do more. To let go, or for him to deepen the symbol of affection.

He had practically just dumped her, and now he had her in one of his liplocks. She had never found herself so addicted to anything before. She would never admitt it, but he made her feel weak in the mind... But that made her love him even more.

Unlike most people, she had discovered, the inside of Marth's mouth wasn't warm. It was icy, like he had his mouth hanging wide open outside in freezing weather. And the kisses were sweet, never bitter. Like sugar.

The only thing she could compare it to was ice cream. But, ice cream slides down your throat and makes your nerves shiver with its chill, whereas, the essence of Marth's lip gesture would warm your throat as it went down, despite it's frigid start.

She reluctantly wraped her arms around his neck and leaned back slightly in her bed as Marth moved closer, finally deepening the kiss. He brought his hand to her cheek, and she instantly stopped her thoughts of regret. She didn't know if her head had begun to hurt, because he numbed the pain. It never failed; she always melted under his lips.

Samus Aran allowed herself a few more moments of selfish pleasure.

Marth pulled back, leaving both quietly bringing needed air into their lungs. She didn't know what he thought he was doing, when you break someone's heart, you don't just kiss them and act like nothing happened... No matter how much they enjoyed it. And that's when she realized how quick she was to question the things that made her feel good.

"I want to be here," Marth said, placing pressure on her chest.

Samus looked up at him with a disgusted glance as the muscles in her arms tightened and she prepared to smack him. But, she stopped when she realized where he had placed his two fingers: A few inches under the base of her neck...

Where her heart was.

He smiled sweetly at her, but she just stared at him with a confused glance. She had heard of lovers being _in_ each other's hearts, but not being _the_ heart itself.

"I want to be," He continued, "What keeps you strong when you're weak,"

Samus just remained impassive.

"You always were," She replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "But I guess it took me my whole life to realize that I didn't have my heart with me,"

Marth gave a sigh of relief and embraced her once more, nuzzling the side of her face with his cheek.

"You're everything to me, too," He mumbled quietly, but loud enough for Samus to hear.

The bounty hunter was just glad that Marth didn't mean what it sounded like. She took a moment to think about their conversation as he pulled up another chair to the bed and sat in it.

"You're really mushy gushy," She said randomly, blinking at him.

Marth's sapphire eyes twinkled as his smile stretched about ten feet and he began to laugh.

"Well," He said, "You did an excellent job of playing along,"

Samus joined in on his merriment. "Yeah, I guess I did,"

Marth put a hand to his chest and let out a dramatic sigh. "Don't tell me that you're a romancer too!"

The blonde fiddled with her head bandages as she turned crimson.

"No," She said arrogantly, "I don't know _how_ to romance anyone,"

Her love just grinned, "That's funny," he said, "because if you ask me, you're doing a wonderful job of it,"

Samus shook her head at his words, "But I'm not doing **anything**," she protested again, "I'm just being myself."

Marth leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Exactly,"

The examining room door suddenly swung open and three teens walked in.

"Oh my gosh Samus! I'm so glad to see you!" Peach cried as she raced to her friend's side and enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug. The bounty hunter gasped for air as she gently patted her friend's back.

"Um, Peachie," Roy said as he watched as the princess proceeded to cut off Samus' oxygen supply, "I don't think she's breathing..."

"Oh!" Peach said, "I'm sorry! I guess I was just having a ditzy moment!"

Roy cocked an eyebrow, "_A_ ditzy moment...?"

Peach rolled her eyes, "Shut up, dragon boy!"

Roy opened his mouth to once again start an argument as Zelda cleared her throat.

"We've really missed you, Sammie," She said, giving the bounty hunter one of her own hugs. Samus hadn't really been in that hospital bed that long, and Zelda realized this. But, friendshp was one of the most important things to her, and she would do anything to keep any friend with her. Not that she had been of any help that night, but, if she had been able to be there, she would have protected Samus with her life.

Her awakened friend smiled into her shoulder. "Thanks... It's good to know that you weren't all having a party without me," She looked up and tried to be hopeful. She really wanted out of this room.

Roy and Link also gave her a quick hug and a peck on the forehead. The latter smiled at her sadly.

"Dr. Mario said that you can go back to your dorm," He said, with a slight bit of assurance. "But, you can't do Smash Battles for a day or so, and you'll get a lot of headaches," Doubt, for him, was one of the worst things that you can have floating around in your mind. He knew how it felt for something to seem good, but you question it, making it loose it's meaning. Possibly for self-pity, or insecurity. He had known Samus for a long time, and knew that she hated being cramped up in a room, and he could tell that she was ready to go back to her own room and get back to her matches. And even the smallest doubt she had, like whether or not she was going to be allowed to go back to her room must be bothering her, if only just a little bit.

Roy nodded. "It's good to have another intellengent being around the mansion again," He joked. He had actually expected for one of them to get mad and blow up at him, but to his surprise, they all were looking softly at Samus, as if it was some sort of compliment. Though it **was** a compliment to her and insult to them, they didn't seem to mind. Roy sighed, these were the times he loved the most: Where you couldn't stand yourself to be a sourpuss and frown at everyone around you, so you smiled and left all of you selfish, petty problems to take the time to be happy with the people you loved. Roy was never one to stop thinking about himself, but he couldn't help but feel like the luckiest sucker in the world.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samus collapsed on her bed and winced at her throbbing head as she lowered herself. It was painful, but she felt as if she had been restricted from simple things like plopping lazily on a bed for years. She may have a few stitches in her head that Dr. Mario would remove in a week, but she felt invincible. She closed her eyes and turned her face towards the ceiling.

"Wow Sam," Peach said as she stared at her from the doorway, "you seem really glad looking,"

Samus laughed and opened one eye to look at her friend. "Well, I'm back from the dead. Don't I have a reason to be happy?"

Zelda sat on her bed. "Of course! And we're happy to have to back; it's been so boring with those three idiots ALL the time. Your boyfriend gets annoying when you're not around to keep him sane..."

"Marth has always been insane in his own little way," Samus said, "He always worries about small things that you should just forget about,"

Zelda swallowed. She and Marth had planned to try and find out more about the assaulter... whoever it was. The prince had tried to convince her it was Falcon, but she wouldn't believe it. It just didn't seem quiet right to her. But, either way, they couldn't do much, with it still storming outside.

"Well, I'm just noticing that you've been happier with the prince; that's all," Peach said after a brief period of silence, "A smlie suits you better than your usual scowl or frown,"

"Well... I wouldn't say happpier... It's not like I'm getting soft," Samus insisted, sitting up.

Peach shook her head. "He's changed you Samus; just admitt it!"

"I refuse," The bounty hunter said, sticking her nose in the air, "I'll admitt that I like him; that's all,"

The Mushroom Princess sighed, "You are so in love with him... It's so pukingly sweet! I didn't know that you could even love. I was begining to wonder if you were human,"

Zelda rested her chin in the palms of her hands as her elbows leaned on her knees. "Yes, Samus surely as been extra gooey lately... It's like Marth gave her a personality change."

"Have you ever told him how you feel?" Peach asked seriously, "I've heard you say, 'I like you,' and 'I love you', but that's because he was getting frustrated with you or vise versa. But have you ever just told him? He's seems like the kind of guy who is really into that romance thing. Always saying how much he cares about you or something,"

Samus looked down at her feet. Marth was actually a lot like that. He was always tellling her how much he loved her, and would ask her if she loved him too, and she would answer yes... But now, she wasn't so sure why. Mostly because he had looked so hopeful when he asked; it would look like a puppy getting beat to a pulp by a bat if she said no.

"Well, sort of," Samus finally answered, "When he asks me to say it, anyway..."

Peach rolled her eyes. "Do you know what that looks like to someone like Marth?" She asked, throwing her hands in the air.

Samus blinked at her. "Someone like Marth...?"

The blonde princess rubbed her temples. "Smart, sensitive... Most girls' dream guy... ring a bell?"

Feeling stupid, the poor tomboyish girl could only nod. Her head was begining to throb again.

"He probably thinks that you don't really mean it," Peach explained, "I mean, _we_ all know you really love him, but does _he_ really know?"

"It's not that big of a deal," Samus complained, "He knows I'm in love with him; so why does her need to hear me say it?"

Peach shook her head. "You should want to say it... It's almost like a bragging sort of thing."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "And how do you exactly know these things?" She interrupted.

Peach shot her daggers. "Hello, I'm trying to give our little Sammie some advice on how to handle someone as fragile as Marth! He's practically a girl!"

Zelda huffed. "Oh, that _REAL_ nice, Peach! Calling a guy feminine in front of his girlfriend just because he has nice skin!"

"Oh, Zellie, don't even start! This isn't about Marth; you've been wanting to argue with me for forever today!" Peach said through clenched teeth.

"Well, let's go! If you wannna argue; we can!" Zelda yelled back. The two princesses didn't even notice a fed-up Samus leave the room as they began to exchange insults.

The bounty hunter grasped her head as she slowly closed the door behind her.

Like those two knew what it was like to be in a relationship! She had told Marth plenty of times that she loved him! He knew she did! So, Peach and Zelda were making a big deal out of nothing. She was positive about that.

Samus started her walk down the hallway. It was still pretty dim since the weather prevented much light from entering people's rooms. Besides, most were locked up in thier rooms playing games. She wanted to go downstairs for some alone for a little while. The walk down the flight to stairs didn't take as long as it usually did; probably because nothing was really troubling her at the moment.

She came back down on the even carpeted floor and looked around. She was alone; as expected and desired. She walked slowly to the window and watched as a small drizzle misted the windows. It looked almost like someone had just turned on a water hose in the sky. She preoccupied herself with staring at it in wonder.

Wonder. That wasn't something she could say she really had. Not since she was a kid, anyway.

Samus flinched in surprise as she felt arms wrap around her stomach and pull her tightly against someone. She felt warm breath tickle her neck and short strands of silky hair barely reach her cheek.

"Guess who," The person said. Samus noticed they had flowers in their right hand.

"Hi Marth," She said with a small smile.

"These are yours," He whispered in her ear, lifting up the sweet smelling creations, "You left them in the room,"

She slowly removed them from his hand and held them up around her nose; remembering their scent.

"Aren't these the same as the ones as the one you gave me from the park that day?" She asked with a slight bit of interest.

He released her and nodded. "Yeah. I found the plant they come from and planted it in the garden; I figured it would be neat. That was in the vase when you were under Dr. Mario's care,"

She looked down at them as Marth manuvered himself in front of her. They were pretty, and she appreciated it. But, she did want to be alone... to think.

"So Samus..." He began, "Do you remember anything about the person that hit you?"

"No," She replied, "Why do you ask?" She noticed that he looked slightly disappointed.

"No reason," Marth said quickly, "I was just curious,"

Samus placed a small kiss on his soft lips and looked up at him. "Well, if there's nothing else, I'd like to be alone for a while,"

"Oh..." He said, slightly downcast, "I'll see you later then..."

Samus's heart dropped when she saw the look of hurt in his eyes as he turned to walk away.

"Marth!" She said suddenly as she grabbed his hand from behind, making him turn around.

"What?" He asked concernedly.

"I-I love you," She confessed quietly, lowering her head in embarrassment. That was the first time she had ever said that to him without being angered and guiltied into it. She almost felt a bit stupid

Marth stared at her a moment, before his gaze softened.

"I love you too."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Got any fives?" Link asked lazily as he studied his nails.

"Go fish," Roy replied as Link pulled a card off the top of the deck and frowned.

There was a bit of silence.

"Do you for real not know how to play poker?" Roy asked finally, rolling his eyes.

Link nodded. "Yeah, I'm too stupid to follow games like that. I'm such a child at heart..."

Roy huffed at this. "Heart _and _mind... That's for sure..."

Link looked mock offended. "_Shut up, dragon boy!" _He said girlishly, imitating Peach, "_You're making me blush!"_

Roy just gawked at him. "That was the single most disturbing thing you have ever done... Counting that time you and Marth had tried to impress me with your _amazing_ singing skills,"

Link cleared his throat. "Marth and me have beautiful voices, thank you!"

The red-head burst out laughing. "Apparently you were on drugs too if you thought you losers had beautiful voices! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Link wiped away a crocodile tear. "That hurts, man... Now, you have to give me a hug to make me feel better!"

"Sure, young pretty thing! Just call me when they start making hot dogs out of horse stomach." Roy replied, clapping his hands together in mock excitement.

Link laughed. "They could very well start that."

Roy stared off into space as he went deep into thought. "Yeah... That's true..."

Link shrugged. "I don't want a hug, anyway,"

"Got any eights?" Roy asked randomly, picking back up on their card game.

"Here," Link said, anger boiling as he handed the pyro the card, "Take my victory song away!"

"With pleasure," Roy muttered as he grinned and placed the card into his hand.

The room door opened to reveal Marth and Samus.

"If you dudes came in here to like fool around and crap, go somewhere else 'cause this is a kiddy card game," Roy said, smiling innocently.

Samus rolled her eyes. "I came in here to spend some time with you idiots since those princesses are fighting right now,"

Roy looked up at Marth. "Does this mean you're sharing her?" He asked, "I heard it's really healthy for a relationship if-" He was cut off by Samus hitting him in the back of the head.

"Quit being stupid, Roy," She said slowly, "Let's just play or whatever..."

"Okay!" Her friend replied happily as Marth sat beside Samus, "It's your turn!"

"Got any threes?" She asked Link.

"Ha! Go fish!" He said proudly, "You're not getting anything from me!"

Samus blinked. "You're really passionate about this game huh?"

"You're looking at the champion!" Link exclaimed happily.

"... Against Nana," Roy reminded. "Don't let him fool you; he has mad "Go Fish" skills!"

"It doesn't sound so honorary when you put it that way!" Link whined.

"It was a small achievement, anyway," Marth teased.

"I don't feel like playing anymore," Roy said. "I keep on winning, anyway,"

"You guys are such wussies," Samus repriminded. "Why, if I could battle you...!" Samus stopped to grab her head in pain.

"You okay, Sam?" Link asked, putting an arm around her shoulder to steady her.

Samus nodded and shrugged his arm off. "Yeah, I"m fine," She said, "I just need to get some sleep... I'll see you tomorrow,"

As she started to leave, Marth walked up behind her, "I'll walk you," he said, "Just in case you loose your balence or something,"

Samus stopped him by putting a hand on his chest.

"I'll be fine," She said, "You worry enough about me." She opened the door and began to leave when she stopped in mid step and turned back around.

"I love you," Samus said for the second time that day as she gave Marth an innocent peck on the cheek. She figured she might as well practice saying 'I love you' while she was at it. It was actually starting to grow on her. She looked at Marth's bedside table to see a gun laying on it.

"By the way," Samus said as Marth continued to beam at her, "You might want to give Fox back his blaster... Where did you get it, anyway?"

The Altean's jaw dropped nearly ten feet as he shoved Samus out of the door and left into the hallway, closing the doorbehind them.

"Fox's?" He asked running her against the wall.

She looked at him strangely and nodded. "Yeah. Why do you have it?"

"Love," He said as he gently held her chin and tilted her face so her eyes were centered with his, "That's the weapon that I believe was used to hurt you,"

Samus senses kicked into gear and she turned the tables on Marth by grabing the front of his shirt and looking just as fiercely into his eyes as she slammed him against the opposite wall. "Promise me you will leave Fox alone; I'm sure it's a misunderstanding." She demanded.

Marth was taken aback by her sudden violent outburst. He averted his gaze from her eyes and burried his face in the crook of her neck. He couldn't just 'let it go'! Somebody had tried to harm the person he would give his life for; he couldn't just pretend it didn't happen! If someone else got harmed, he would never forgive himself.

But, he couldn't say no to Samus... But lying... that was an entirely different story.

"I promise," He said, a horrible feeling rising up into the pit of his stomach, "Now let me walk you to your room; your head must be throbbing by now,"

She realesed him and studied his profile for a second as if trying to determine whether that was her Marth or not. It didn't seem like him to just give up that easy... But, she would have to take him by his word for now.

"Fine," She answered finally.

Marth took her hand, and they began their walk down the long corridor, Marth's promise stilllingering in the air behind them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yay! Last chapter I got more reviews than I had in a while! And I MUST thank the following rockin' awesome people!

**Royal Kenya**

**Babykoalaprincess**

**RoyalFanatic**

**Mimza x2 **(You left me the longest review in history! You rock!)

**crystalicios**

**ShimmeringJade x2 **(Congrats to you and 101 Smasher Memories, which I consider myself a HUGE fan of!)

**Annalisa VK**

**BabyGurl278**

**Teachi Sohma**

**xNobobdyPutsSammyInTheCorner...**

And last but not least, the star of the show...

**CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM**! (This guy REALLY admires me, ya?)

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading the Return of Samus Aran as much as I did writing it! And I hope you enjoyed the bit of fluff I put it there. I promise I will get around to more than just fluff and Marth being paranoid. Some of Zelda and Marth's sleuthing will begin in chapter 10! Well thank you for reading, and hit THAT BLASTED REVIEW BUTTON ON THE WAY OUT, YOU DISHELVED MUDPUPPPIES! And, the kid Smashers that everyone seemed to like will return, along with some other people who I have neglected!

Hahaha, well, thanks to all you reviewers! I hope to get more in the future! I apologize for any spacing or spelling errors; I will fix those when I have finished this story.

-Sage


	10. A Thing Called Regret

**YUSH! TEH MIGHTY UPDATE OF EVILNESS THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH... EVILNESS!!! I HAVE FINALLY UPDATED, AFTER OVER 7 MONTHS OF NOTHING!!! SAGE IS FINALLY OFF HIATUS!! NOW, LET ME SHUT UP SO YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS INCREDIBLY ANNOYING ALL CAPS AUTHORESS' NOTE!**

**Warnings: Nothing but a little bit of sexual humor between Roy and Samus. And definitely be warned about the massive amount of MarthSamus at the beginning of the story. If you're not a fan of MarthSamus/romance/fluff, then you'll probably want to throw up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot of this fanfic, and maybe Peach's nickname, Peachie. But then again, other people have used it, so never mind.**

**Enjoy. (BUT I REALLY WANT YOU TO REJOICE! REJOICE, READER SLAVES!) XD**

_Chapter 10:_

**A Thing Called Regret**

Samus shifted uncomfortably in her chair that was seated in the living room.

"Aunt Samus?"

The bounty hunter winced as Nana the young Ice Climber bounced happily in her position on her lap.

"Aunt Samus," Nana stated again, "Am I getting on your nerves by moving around so much?"

The blonde patted the small girl on the head, her large round orbs shining in admiration.

"Not at all," Samus assured her, "I enjoy the company."

In reality, the tomboyish Smasher despised Nana sitting in her lap, but for some reason, the bounty hunter had taken a liking to the sweet young girl, and didn't hate this predicament as much as she thought she would.

Nana mostly blabbered mindlessly on anyway, and you wouldn't even have to listen to her to get what she was saying.

How Popo was so protective of her, how much Young Link pestered her, and how cool she thought the older Smashers were.

The usual.

"Aunt Peach said that she would teach me how to use a frying pan as a weapon later on today, and Uncle Roy is going to help us by being our volunteer human target!" Nana said excitedly, not catching on to the real reason Peach wanted to

"Well then I guess I'll have to go watch later," Samus said, smiling down at the parka clad fighter.

Nana smiled from ear to ear, and looked forward, not saying anything else.

"HONEY, I'M HOME!!!"

Samus looked up at the outburst to see Roy flowing towards her, whistling some insane tune as he took a seat beside her.

"Wow, Sammie," The general breathe with mock exhaustion, "Last night was a little rough. I REALLY feel sorry for your main squeeze, Marth."

Even thought Roy's humor was almost always a bit on the perverted side, most of the time you couldn't help but let out a little laugh, which Samus did.

However, if you played along with his jokes, it usually surprised him enough to the point where he would drop the subject completely.

"Well sorry," Samus apologized, studying her nails. "I can't help that I'm turned on by your sexual prowess,"

Nana looked confusedly up at the bounty hunter.

"What's a 'sexual prowess'?" She asked dazedly, as if it was a very simple term that she should know the meaning of.

Samus, however, almost choked on her saliva; she had completely forgotten that Nana was still sitting there.

Roy, to the contrary, looked almost overjoyed to tell her the definition.

"Well, honey," He began, as if he had some kind of business - and an important business at that - "a sexual prowess is-"

He wasn't able to finish before Samus clamped a hasty hand over his mouth.

"Hey Nana," The bounty hunter said slowly, "Don't you think you should find Peach and study up for your little 'lesson'?"

Nana sighed, but obeyed out of deep respect.

"Okay," She moped, sounding a bit more childish than she actually was, "I guess I could."

Nana hopped out of Samus' lap, and toddled off to another hallway. The bounty hunter waited until she was entirely out of earshot before she laid a frustrated hand on her forehead, and leaned her elbows on the armrest of the couch. Quite followed.

Silence.

More silence.

"Do I really seduce you with my sexual prowess?"

"..."

Samus gave him an odd stare out of the corner of her eye and thought for a moment.

"Roy,"

He waited a moment before acknowledging her.

"Yes?"

"... You don't have any sexual prowess..."

The red-head swordsman sighed and stood to his feet. "I didn't think so..."

However, his face instantly picked up, and continued whistling his insane tune.

"Ah well," He said as he began to walk away, almost traveling in a skip. "Peachie is overdue for her torment of the day. I'll see you later!"

Samus shook her head in amazement, and stretched, lying her feet on the coffee table, letting out a deep, comfortable sigh.

She sat there a moment, thinking about Peach and Roy's relationship. Over the course of a month or so, they seemed to be growing farther apart, contrary what Peach originally wanted.

And originally, as she recalled, the Mushroom Princess had wanted Roy.

Now, however, Samus wasn't sure if even Peach herself knew what she wanted anymore.

"Samus?"

For what seemed like the billionth time that day, she looked up to the sound of her name, but instead felt a warm body mass sit down beside her, the couch sinking ever so slightly under the extra weight.

She found prince Marth of Altea grinning broadly at her, his hands folded neatly in his lap.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but settled back down into her seat, ignoring him on purpose, knowing it would eventually agitate him.

Marth then scooted so close to her that their sides were touching, to which Samus responded by clearing her throat sarcastically, hoping to wear on his nerves.

However, the bounty hunter knew that he would never say anything to her about how she teased him; he was too soft-spoken to give her any grief.

The quiet continued awkwardly, and Samus began to wonder if she had actually upset Marth. As odd as it was, he was very fragile to things like that, for whatever reason.

She wondered that until she felt his soft hair against her cheek, as he proceeded to give her a butterfly kiss, just because he knew that she hated them.

Samus instantly jumped back in surprise, and Marth just smiled triumphantly at her.

She wouldn't tell him, but she hated butterfly kisses because she always became anxious and her stomach swirled uncomfortably when she experienced them. Of course, she found this out when he did this once before.

He finally spoke, "That got your attention, didn't it?"

Samus crossed her arms in indignation, but there was no anger in her eyes. "You know I hate when you do that."

Marth gently poked her in the side. "Why? Does your stomach flutter or something?"

"... No!" She hesitated before answering. "I just feel like I'm an immature ten year old when I do them! It's very stupid to brush noses with people, it looks weird and **sounds** even weirder!" Samus scowled again, "So NEVER do it again."

Having said that, she promptly crossed her arms and turned her head the other way out of spite.

Marth only smiled, indicating he didn't believe a word of her alibi.

"Well, I know it gives **me **butterflies in my stomach. Maybe that's why they call them 'butterfly kisses'." He shamelessly admitted, trying to choose his words carefully, in case he really hit a nerve. He hated to upset her.

When, in reality, it took every bit of self-control that Samus had not to tell him how adorable he could be sometimes. If she hadn't resisted, he would have something against her, namely that she wasn't the extreme "I hate everything that is adorable, cute, etc." character that she had always claimed to have. It was a bit of a trademark for her. And even though meeting Marth and the rest of her friends had numbed a lot of that, she still grasped hold of her old mannerisms.

"Well, _you're_ ticklish," Samus retorted pathetically, "So boo to you,"

Marth shook his head. "No I'm not... I haven't been tickled since I was little, so I'm very confident I've grown out of it."

Samus smiled mischievously, an 'evil' plan formulating in her mind.

"Is that so?" She asked, using a finger on her left hand to trace a pattern down his side, and then back up to his shoulder slowly.

Marth looked at her oddly for a moment.

"Yes," He answered a bit cautiously.

"Oh, okay," The blonde shrugged and laid back in her seat, seemingly putting the subject to rest.

The prince shook his head in confusion and did likewise, floating off into his own thoughts comfortably.

Then, suddenly he felt Samus wrap her left arm around his waist a bit possessively. Or maybe it was just very tightly; he couldn't tell the difference. She leaned so close to him that he could feel her breathe from his ear to his jaw line.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Samus asked softly in his ear, her nails scratching his stomach lightly through the fabric of his clothes. Frankly, the prince didn't know if she had a fever, or was trying to initiate _something_. **(A/N: If you got that joke, then you're a pervert. XD)**

But before Marth could answer her, she violently tackled him, pinning his body to the couch in a laying position and began to tickle his sides.

Much to Samus' amusement, the blue haired swordsman began to chuckle madly. She continued to tickle various places on his sides, as his raucous laughs continued.

Tired of holding herself up with her one free hand, she allowed her body to rest on his.

"So are you **still **not ticklish?"

"N-no!" Marth managed to practically yell through his giggling fit. "Stop! I admit it! I'm ticklish!"

Samus smirked and removed her hands from her lover's side, his mad laughs stopping, and gave him a quick butterfly kiss, much to his surprise.

She flicked his nose gently with her finger and whispered, "I think we're even now,"

It was now Marth's turn to grin mischievously at her.

"Not quite..."

Having said that, he flipped both of them over to where he was on top, and caught her lips in a chaste kiss.

"Now we're even." He smirked against her mouth.

"Oh, so Marth is on top?"

The both of them looked up from their kiss to see Roy trudging towards them, a perverted smile on his face.

"I thought for sure that Samus would at least _attempt_ to dominate, ya know? I mean, with Marth stealing Peach's dresses and stuff." He teased, looking at the both of them in an intimate position. "But I see who rocks at 'rocking the casbah'."

Marth got off of the blonde beneath him, and sat down properly again, taking a few moments to finger brush his out-of-place blue locks, recently disturbed from rolling on the couch. Samus followed his example.

"We were just fooling around," Marth supplied slowly.

"I'll say," Roy gasped, grabbing the collar of his shirt and shook it rapidly, fanning himself with it, " That was hot. I wish I would have had my camcorder with me... Or Peach; she loves blackmail,"

He laughed to himself and sat down beside Samus.

"You guys know I'm just kidding," He assured them, before narrowing his eyes. "But the way you two respond, one would think that you were very guilty of _something_,"

Samus only smirked at this.

"Say Roy?" She prodded gently in a teasing fashion, seeing a bulge on the top of his head, "What is that?"

The Pharaean paled, but brushed it off by answering the question.

"Oh, this?" He offered, pointing to the bump on his head, "Well, I got it helping an old lady cross the street in town, and I think she thought I was hitting on her!"

"Really?" Samus asked, indicating with her voice she knew the real reason, "That mark looks too wide to be from a walking stick... It looks more like... I dunno... PEACH'S FRYING PAN?!?"

Roy laughed nervously. "Oh, of course not, why would you think that?"

Just then, Nana walked in the living room, and, spotting Marth whom she had not seen this morning, plopped herself happily beside the prince.

"Hi, Uncle Marth!" She greeted cheerily, her eyes sparkling happily as she instantly gave him a 'big brother' hug, just as she did with all of the older Smashers whenever she saw them.

A bit surprised, he merely patted her on the back.

"Well, good day to you," Marth replied sweetly as he was released from Nana's hug.

Which, mind you, was a pretty tight grip for such a small girl.

Nana turned to Roy. "And sorry about the bump on your head. When Aunt Peach told me to hit as hard as I could, I kinda forgot that you were going to be able to feel the frying pan whack your head..."

Roy touched the bump and winced. "Don't worry about it, Nana... I'm fine."

"HEEEEELLLLLLOOOOO, EVERYONE!!!!"

Peach, followed by Link and Zelda, made their way over to the couch with the rest of their friends.

The Mushroom Princess looked at the large bump on Roy's head, and lifted her fingers into a 'peace' sign.

"Sweet!" She exclaimed. "Nana really hit the nail on the head with that one... Literally!"

"Ha, ha, ha," Roy laughed sarcastically, and grabbed his sides, pretending to 'bust a gut' while laughing. His eyes narrowed cynically, "That was so funny I'm going to die. HA, HA, HA,"

"Don't hesitate," Peach said darkly in a monotone voice.

Zelda patted her friend on the shoulder. "Now, come on, Peach, can't you two get along for just a few moments?"

Peach shot Roy in the heart with her eyes. "We were supposed to be friends... I have no idea what happened to that..."

The general pretended not to hear, and turned his head away from his friends.

Marth looked at both of his friends.

Peach.

She was such a sweet girl, and the prince knew this, so he couldn't help but wonder why Roy had began to reject her advances on friendship. It was true, of course, that the red head had really admired the Mushroom Princess at one time. Enough to ask her out, at one time.

And when she rejected him, Marth guessed that this hurt Roy's ego a little more than he let on. He wasn't an expert on peoples love lives- or their lack of, thereof- but it made sense to him.

Roy.

He had possessed his slightly perverted personality for as long as he could remember, which turned a lot of girls off of him. But, as far as Marth knew, Roy had never had a relationship. He had _dates_, of course, but never a relationship. However, since his Pharaean friend had introduced him to the Super Smash Brothers Melee tournament, he somewhat owed his relationship with Samus to him.

And after Peach rebuffed him, Roy had just given up on her completely, and they grew apart at a rapid rate, even though they had tried harder than before to mend their broken relationship.

"Marth?"

The prince's thoughts crashed, and he looked back to reality.

Samus was addressing him.

"I'm going to Dr. Mario so that he can remove those stitches, I'll see you later."

Marth stood up. "No wait, I'll go with you," He offered.

Samus laughed. "Naw, I think you and I have gotten into enough trouble today," She joked, "You stay here and spend time with the others, I'll be down in thirty minutes... Tops."

Marth took his seat once more. "Alright, I'll see you later, then."

"Bye, Auntie Samus!" Nana called after her, "Tell doctor Mario to be careful; when Young Link pushed me down the other day, that cut ointment that he used hurt my skinned knee! Oh! And he might give you a lollipop if you don't squirm!"

Samus secretly grinned as she walked away. "I'll remember that,"

Samus balanced her chin on her balled up fist, as her legs swung lazily over the side of the examining table.

Dr. Mario rummaged through some medical instruments, before selecting a pair of medical scissors and tweezers.

"Okay," He said finally, "I'm going to cut-a the stitches with the scissors-a, and pull them out of their holes with-a the tweezers, okay?"

Samus nodded lazily.

Due to his height, Dr. Mario had to hop on the medical table as well, and begin his work.

"I'll try not-a to cut any of your hair-a," He assured her, and she felt him begin to cut the 6 stitches, and pull them from the skin they were sewed into.

It was a virtually painless process, she realized, and if anything, she felt a lot better.

"It never takes long-a for stitched up wounds to heal-a. Yours was so erm, _dramatic_ only because whenever-a you get hit on the head-a with a blunt object, you can always get amnesia... Probably not a serious-a case, but enough to worry-a your friends."

"Why was I in a coma, then?" Samus questioned.

"Because, the loss of blood-a made you-a dizzy, so you passed out. And with-a the headache, you genuinely just slept for-a a day or two."

The bounty hunter nodded, and jumped down from the examining table, and took off his latex gloves. "All-a done!"

Samus grinned at his enthusiasm, and spotted a cup filled with lollipops.

"Could I have one of those?" She asked the Doctor.

The Italian turned to see what she was talking about, and shook his head in amazement. "Well-a you're the first-a person-a that has ever asked-a for one... I usually only give them to the-a younger Smashers!" He said incredulously.

Nonetheless, he made his way over to the cup. "What flavor-a?" He asked.

Samus thought for a moment. "Hmmm, how about cherry?"

Dr. Mario laughed and headed her the candy. "One cherry-a lollipop coming up-a"

The blonde bounty hunter slid off the table and waved her goodbye to the doctor and exited his 'medical quarters' that she knew all too well.

She stepped into the hallway, the carpet absorbing her footfalls. She continued to walked untill she saw an orange figure coming towards her.

"Fox," She questioned as he passed by.

The pilot glanced her way, and grinned. "Ho, Aran! It's good to see that you're doing better!"

Samus caught up to him, and gave the fox a high-five.

"How's one of my best sparring partners doing?" She asked. "I heard you and Falco were the ones who found me!"

Fox smiled. "Laying in an alley bleeding and you still managed to look hardcore,"

The bounty hunter shook her head.

"I amaze myself sometimes," She joked.

Yes, Fox McCloud had always been a very good sparring partner. She couldn't say that they two of them had ever really been friends per say, but she always respected the Smashers' that she trained with.

And of course, when she heard that someone she respected so much was one of Marth's suspects in his game of vendetta, even after he and Falco had the courtesy to pass on the information of her assault.

She loved Marth, but wasn't too sure about this 'investigation' of his; there were too many possible suspects, anyway.

"So," She began, crossing her arms. "Has Marth spoken to you lately?"

Fox nodded. "I day or two ago, actually. Apparently he found my blaster and returned it to me."

He patted the holster on his side. "Yeah, me and this baby have been through some rough times,"

Samus laughed. "I'll say... Hey, _Marth_ didn't happen to discuss anything else with you, did he?" His name rolled off her tongue slowly, hoping that Fox would give her the answer she was hoping for. The answer she had asked for.

The surly pilot shook his head no. "Nah..." He looked down at his watch. "Oops, sorry Samus. I gotta run; me and Falco are having game night tonight along with a few others. See ya."

And having said that, the fox jogged down the hallway, and into the distance where it was too dark to see.

Apparently, much to her surprise, Marth had actually kept his promise.

Gathering her wits, Samus did as Fox had, and journeyed down the dark hallway, passing dorm rooms. And with it being so close to sunset, most were spending time with each other.

Game night, as Fox had put it.

She reached the stairs, and they silently creaked under her feet.

_I shouldn't have assumed he would lie to me,_ Samus thought, going off into her own reverie, _As sweet as he is, I figured that he would have instigated Fox, only because I know him to take things to drastic measures._

She reached the living room to see all of her friends seated exactly how they were before, chattering with each other. Taking her seat next to Marth, she began to feel very uncomfortable. Most likely because of her past accusations.

"So, Samus," Marth turned his eyes to her and spoke, "How did it go?"

Remembering her appointment with Dr. Mario, she grinned and lowered her head, so the others could see the developing scar where the good doctor removed the stitches.

"I'm all fixed up," She said, basking in the fact that she was feeling like the old Samus again.

"That's great, Sammie," Zelda commented, "I think things are finally settling back down,"

"And plus, I got a lollipop," The bounty hunter joked good naturedly.

Nana perked up at the mention of candy. "What flavor?"

And for some unknown reason, Samus couldn't help but smile as she said, "Cherry."

The young Ice Climber nodded. "Yup, Auntie Samus! Cherry is the best kind!"

"Let me have it, then!" Roy whined, making a pleading gesture with his hands, "You have to watch your figure and all that!"

Frowning at his joke, Samus popped the cheeky general on the back of the head and unwrapped her candy.

"No it's mine," She said firmly, putting it in her mouth. "Doctah Mawio gahve it to mesh!"

Nana giggled at how Samus pronounced her words when she had something in her mouth, but didn't say anything.

Roy, on the other hand rubbed the back of his head. "Why do girls always hit me?" He muttered under his breath.

"Because you're a jerk," Peach replied, studying her nails, a smug grin on her face.

And of course, this comment brought a whole different subject of conversation for the seven friends, counting Nana.

Samus shook her head, and removed the lollipop from her mouth. She leaned over to Marth.

"I love you," She whispered, and kissed the prince on the cheek.

"I love you too," Marth told her, trying to get used to the fact that Samus, for whatever reason, started telling him had random times she loved him

He didn't mind, of course. She just didn't usually say that to him unless they had been arguing.

She also didn't tell Marth that she had run into Fox in the hallway, just in case he thought the only reason she told him how she felt was because he kept his promise.

However, what she didn't know was that he almost wished he didn't.

But right then, that didn't matter.

The only thing that mattered to Marth or Samus at that moment were the unspoken words of how much they cared for each other.

And in that, they were content.

Link sat in his chair in the living room, his eyes darting from his friends talking, to the princess of Hyrule, who was discussing something with Roy. He pushed a strand of short blonde hair behind his ear in thought.

He had tried so hard playing cupid at the request of Peach, when, in reality, he had no right to conduct anyone's love life, because he himself didn't even have one.

It was completely pathetic.

"Are you okay, Link?"

The Hero of Time looked over to Marth, and sighed deeply.

"I'm just... thinking of... someone..."

"You know, it's not too late to start making up for the way you treated her a while back..." Marth tried to comfort his distressed friend. He never forgotten the little story Link had told him so many months ago.

"What?" Link asked, not sure of what he was saying. "I don't even know who you're talking about."

Marth was about to say it out loud, but then thought better of it and whispered softly.

"Princess Zelda."

Link, first of all, was flabbergasted that the prince knew who he was referring to, but didn't understand his friend's warnings.

"The way I treated her?" The blonde asked uncertainly. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember when I first arrived here?" Marth questioned, his voice still at a low whisper. "Remember that dream you had that night? I asked you about it, and you said that you broke her heart a couple of years back."

Link almost burst out laughing at his friend's gullibility. "Marth, that was a trick. I made up all of that on purpose to see if I could trust you. If you kept the secret, and didn't blab to Zelda, then I could trust you enough to share a dorm with you."

Marth shook his head in understanding, and sighed at his own stupidity. "Oh, I get it... I apologize for thinking so strangely of the relationship between you two for this long. I was thinking you had done something horrible to her. But now that I think of how well the both of you get along, it makes more sense that you were lying. Very clever."

Link's icy blue eyes lit up as he laughed.

But Link never told Marth that his mind was _constantly_ centered around Zelda, and his day-to-day life with her.

In fact, the more time he spent with her, the more he adored the princess. He had admired her as a child, running around Hyrule Castle courtyard playing tag, but not in the same way he had begun to feel about her now. Now, it seemed as if every time he breathed, her scent still lingered in his nostrils from days ago, and how he constantly wondered what when on in her head when he talked to her and the others.

Was he just a dork, who had saved her kingdom?

Or, was he the Hero of Time, the only 'best friend' in Hyrule of Zelda's that her father permitted to enter the castle gates?

Link cradled his head in his hands and breathed heavily as Marth turned to pick back up on his conversation with Samus, who was proudly showing off the lack of stitches in her head, and telling everyone that she would soon be participating in matches again.

That had always been Samus' favorite activity as a Smasher.

He couldn't help but feel happy for her, and a little sorry for himself as well. He had always been afraid that he would start feeling something for Zelda, but for his sake, he hoped that it was just an **over joyful **friendship.

But he knew that was just wistful thinking, especially since it sounded absolutely ridiculous in his mind. And when things sounded weird as thoughts in your head, then they were downright screwed up in reality as actions.

You weren't supposed to imagine yourself _kissing_ your friends.

So, as expected, he was just supposed to keep everything he experienced when he was around the princess of Hyrule a deep, dark secret.

Though, when Link thought of how many times people reminded him of a broken record when they insisted that they were absolutely positive he was in love with Zelda, he realized that his feelings were very popular suspicion. Everyone seemed to find him very obvious.

Well... everyone except for Zelda, of course.

Link's orbs traveled to the princess' slender shape, as she laughed at one of Roy's jokes. The flawless features in her face bursting with happiness. A happiness they he never had a part in at the moment, and seriously doubted he ever would. He took note of the way her bright blonde hair seemed to bounce with every vibration of laugh that emitted from her mouth, and traveled from the depths of his spine, all the way to roots of his subconscious.

Zelda glanced back, and caught Link staring at her with soft eyes, and smiled at him, giving him a gentle smile and a wave also.

Embarrassed with being caught, he blushed, but lowered his head so she wouldn't see. But of course, her looks, her voice, and everything she had ever said to him was etched into his mind... even when she wasn't anywhere around.

Yes.

He had always admired the princess of Hyrule. For more reason than one.

Peach's face had been stuck in a scowl, as she stared holes in Roy, who had been talking to Zelda for a good thirty minutes. The way her friends functioned, they would primarily talk to one other friend, but the whole group would contribute to the conversation, and that's how they spent time with each other. The group all flowed and ebbed together, which is why the six of them got along very well together. Plus Nana, who seemed to tag along with them when she didn't want to play with her brother and Young Link, who didn't seem to like her very much.

It seemed that the six of them were born to be best friends.

Well, maybe all _except_ for her and Roy.

From the first time she had ever met the red head, she had always brushed him off as a jerk.

"You holding out alright?"

Peach recognized the voice and groaned as she acknowledged that Roy himself had addressed her.

"Yeah, I guess," She answered dully.

Roy smirked cockily, noticing that she had been boring holes into the back of his head with her eyes like me.

Peach, catching his glare, flashed him a dirty look.

The general had always seemed to sense the effect he had on her, and exploited it fully. He knew when to grin sweetly at her, just because he knew how good looking he was.

Or, maybe she thought these things because she was a complete and utter idiot, thinking that anyone could see anything other than a pretty face when they looked at her.

_Roy saw something else, or he wouldn't have asked you out, and then tried to play Romeo._

Peach smiled to herself, shuffling through her thoughts.

Yes.

Maybe there was a chance that Roy had seen more of her in a romantic way than any other male alive, but there was still that fact that she hated his guts for making a chain link on this long wielded piece of misery.

"You look like you're deep in thought, Peachie," Roy gathered suddenly, a grin on his face. "Just remember, if you can add, you can multiply as well," The joke went stale in the air, and crashed to the floors of the Mushroom Princess' mind.

"Shut up, Roy." Peach said stonily, but the swordsman didn't realize how serious she actually was.

He took it as another joke.

And _laughed_.

After all the things that Peach felt for him. The love, **and** the hate. And he had the audacity to _laugh_ at her.

She was tired over crying over nothing to her friends.

Princess Peach Toadstool briskly stood up, and connected her hand with Roy's cheek. _Hard._

The general's face was snapped quickly to the right from the impact, and he could feel the precursors for a bruise beginning to develop. He brought his fingers up to his cheek to caress the inflamed slap, and stared with wide eyes at the princess.

And without a smart comeback, Peach began to leave, a cloud of ominous anger hanging over her.

"Peach," Roy said inaudibly, as her back faced him, growing farther smaller as her distance from him increased.

That slap was nothing like the one that he had received in Dr. Mario's examining room. The one before was softer, and they had instantly snapped back to the makeshift friendship that he had tried to create in order to override the feelings he had confessed to her once. That one setence she spoke to him hurt more than any insult that had escaped her lips.

And the slap that burned on his cheek now, was releasing something into the back of his mind, creating a rare feeling that he had experience a lot lately. Mainly because of the princess that had just abandoned him.

It didn't matter if you were mourning over not being able to control your feelings for someone.

It didn't matter that you wished you hadn't jumped to conclusions.

And it didn't matter that you had screwed up again; it was all called the same thing.

It was a thing called regret, and Roy wasn't sure he could fix it this time.

**Oooh... Dramatic, no? **

**I don't know about you guys, but I'm absolutely thrilled that I have finally completed this chapter. It's about 17 pages long, according to Word Processor, (not counting the A/N) and I finished it in about three days of relentless hard work.**

**You hear that? It took me three days to finish what I have been taking 7 months to write! But I'm just excited that I finally finished, so I could put an end to my updating slump.**

**I also apologize for any grammar errors that have most likely been spotted throughout this chapter.**

**So, Peach is ticked at Roy, and he thinks that he screwed up bad this time, Marth kept his promise, and Link is obsessed with Zelda.**

**Mmmm... Everything tastes a little better with a bit of Zelink on it! ;)**

**Well, kudos goes to the following sexy reviewers! XD Just kidding. I don't want you to think I'm sexually harassing you over the internet! XP**

_**Royal Kenya**_

_**xNobodyPutsSammyInTheCornerx**_

_**Mimza**_

_**RoyalFanatic**_

_**ShimmeringJade**_

_**crystalicios**_

_**tanimax**_

_**BabyGurl278**_

_**BlueShootinStar1**_

_**ezykial**_

_**Babykoalaprincess**_

_**Unique-Yoshi**_

_**Empress Caroline of Tamaran**_

**You guys are so wonderful, and I hope you enjoyed my much anticipated (for me, anyway,) update! Don't be a "Ghost Reader" as Royal Kenya and crystalicios put it; REVIEW!!**

'**Tis what makes me feel all fuzzy and inside and want to update! XD**

**With much love for her reviewers and randomness,**

**-Sage**


	11. Take Me Or Bury Me

**REVISED VERSION**

**I was reading back over this chapter, and some things stuck out like a sore thumb. So, I felt compelled to revise. I plan to add chapter 12 within the next couple of days, so just thanks to everyone for hanging in there. I hope you enjoy the edited version better.**

Warnings: Nothing but the usual. There shouldn't be many surprises this far into the story. Also, I got half of the title from the **30 Seconds To Mars **song_, "The Kill (Bury Me)," _which I was listening to a lot while writing the Roy and Peach scenes. If you can tolerate the rock/screamo style, then you should check it out; it's a pretty awesome song in my opinion, and it suits Roy and Peach's situation perfectly.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot of this story.

Enjoy.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

Chapter 11: _Take Me Or Bury Me_

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

It had been days.

It had been countless days since Peach had even spared Roy a passing glance.

Okay, maybe it hadn't been _that_ long, but it had sure felt like it. After she had stormed out that day, she didn't dare look back at him, and it seemed that every time she saw him, she saw fit to reenact the scene as if he hadn't gotten the point the first time.

When notably, the point rang as clear as a bell.

You would always hear poetic lines about how lovers who were a victim of the ever-angsty "unrequited love" scenarios, and how they would lie in bed and wallow in their self-pity. Then, you would silently laugh at them as they progressed to desperately latch on to any member of the opposite sex that they could get their hands on until they realized that they were still hung up on the first person.

Well, maybe dramatic romance stories were just in movies, writings by William Shakespeare, and other various romantics, but it all held the same point.

Roy sighed deeply, as if in thought and stared up aimlessly at the ceiling.

_This isn't me... _He thought, his eyes scanning around the room slowly, _I'm acting like a broken-hearted schoolgirl..._

His sat up on his bed slowly, and looked around the darkened room.

His recent hobby had become trying to rack what was left of his brain to figure out what he had done wrong in the middle of the timeslot between the terms he and Peach used to be on, and now.

Of course she had her heart broken before, and maybe things like that took a long time to heal, but was it possible that there was another reason?

The general knew that he and Peach had never been on the most stable of terms, but did she really love to torture him so much that she wouldn't even look his way while they were with their friends? Did wounds really run that deep?

That's exactly why the past few days had been so hard. He had tried countless things to sort out his feelings and actions to find some sort of flaw.

And of course, the fights came up, but Peach always seemed to brush them off, and Roy would go back to conducting the masquerade of friendship to try and cover up the fact that he could never tell her how nice she looked that day.

Or, how miserable Peach had seemed lately, and he could help but think that he had something to do with it. Roy knew that he had never been the most sensitive person when it came to matters of the emotions, especially when it came to Peach, but he knew he wasn't entirely heartless.

It went without saying, that his social status in Peach's life remained undecided. And maybe she had every right to hate him, but did that mean that he had to hate her too? Even after all this time, and all the different ways he had managed to spit this one particular phrase out, he had realized one thing.

He could never manage to hate her.

Link, Marth, Zelda, Samus and Peach had all decided to hang out as a group, and all excluding Peach had tried to urge him to tag along, but the swordsman complained about the heat and covered his head with a pillow, which was new Roy language for "this conversation his over."

And much to his surprise, his word was respected, and they left without him.

Though it might seem like the ideal thing, he found that he was digging his own grave by moping around the way he had been. Roy was positive some alone time would be all he needed to get his mind of things, but, for some unknown reason, it seemed like the worst thing.

The past few days had went by in a sort of blur, having every usual detail of his life smear together like an art piece done by a two year old.

For one, he had no idea why Peach was so upset. The joke he had cracked was so... unfunny, for lack of better word, that he had to explain the pun to Marth. However, the prince had always been a little slow when it came to jokes... well, except the childish ones that would escape his lips every once in a while. Afterwards, he'd have to tell everyone what the joke meant, all the while accusing everyone in a room of having no sense of humor.

_I guess,_ Roy lamented, with one of the rare grins he had spared for a while one his face, _one of the things that royalty __**wasn't **__taught was how to tell a decent joke, or entertain a crowd..._

Either that, or Marth just wasn't very good at it.

The pyro sat up in his bed and crossed his legs, still clad in his pajamas, which, of course, were red to match his hair... and fire. He cradled his head gently in his hands and let out a long suppressed sigh.

How long was this misery planning on gnawing at him?

This sensation had found itself seeping out of the cracks in Roy's ego, and out of his body. He couldn't quite place the feeling. It was new, and yet it felt sort of like the feeling you get when you run into someone that used to be your best friend at a restaurant. It was new to him, and yet it felt like he had felt it before.

Regret?

Success?

No, this wasn't nearly like the others. It somehow felt as if he had just let go, and something inside had just left him numb and empty.

Almost on impulse, he shot out of his bed and went to the bathroom, swinging open the door and closing it, locking it firmly behind him.

He stood in the bathroom alone, leaning against the door, his shoulders rigid. Looking around. His short, soft breath intakes echoing around the small room. He noticed a bottle on the side of the sink, filled with a reddish liquid: presumably Marth's shampoo. Roy stared at it for a moment, then picked it up, reading the label.

"_Tropical Passion_," He read aloud, his eyebrow arching confusedly, "_Guaranteed to bring you lush locks and a soft scalp,_"

He looked quizzically at the bottle for a moment. True, Marth did take special care when it came to hygiene, namely his hair, but what people got from that was "a real stuck-up princely pretty boy." Or, the one that really used to hit the blue swordsman's nerves: "gay."

However, what some failed to do was realize how Marth really was. Beyond all of the "glamour" he maintained was a very natural, real person. Someone who you could count on, and always seemed to keep his cool. And, what Marth himself had failed to see was that his kindness towards people was actually what made him so "princely," and that false derogatory remarks made by ignorant people shouldn't bother him.

But, of course, only males seemed to have a cold heart towards Marth, and Roy figured it was because girls tended to pine after him, and their boyfriends didn't appreciate the fact that when Marth would make public appearances in Altea, their girlfriends would gawk at him.

Jealousy, was how you would put it.

And in the same way, people looked at Roy's exterior, they would see a very egotistic and slightly cruel person. The problem, of course, was convincing them that there was more to him than met the eye, but that notion never seemed to be taken seriously.

Roy reached through the shower curtain to turn on the water, and a stream of the clear fluid began to shoot out of the metal shower head, making a loud humming noise. After a moment of staring down at the shampoo bottle once more, he discarded his clothes and stepped into the shower.

The Pharean native didn't tell people, but he had always felt that the shower was one of the best places to think.

Unwind and contemplate, were the words that Roy used many times to sum up his strange mannerism.

The warm water had instantly washed over him, and traveled down in beads. He rested his forehead on the tile walls.

Thinking.

There was a certain purity to taking a shower. It cleansed away all the dirt on a person, and not just the physical grime. No matter what someone felt before they had entered the small sanctuary, it would all be washed away in a little while. You could come clean. Whether it was a shameful night when you woke up next to someone you didn't even know, or if you

just had a heavy heart, it could all be fixed.

You could forgive yourself, and you could forget.

By this time, Roy had learned that no matter how many brain cells he burned thinking, he wasn't getting any closer to the answer. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more knew why Peach was angry and him. The problem was that he wasn't sure of how to respond to it.

Confrontation?

Evading?

Forgetting?

No, just forgetting about Peach was impossible. He wouldn't be able to do that even if he wanted to.

The water crashed down and soaked his hair, matting it to his forehead, all the while Roy was slowly hoping that the warmth would ebb all of his troubles away. Ease his headache, and help him gain back all the hours he had lost stressing about such a stupid issue. He used a hand to push his bangs out of his eyes in contradictory lament.

Then again, he thought, Peach was nowhere near "a stupid issue".

She was the most important issue.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

In the living area, Nana, Young Link, Popo, and Ness sat in a small circle, just talking amongst themselves.

"What's been with Roy lately?" Popo asked suddenly, snapping the group of friends out of their silent trance. The group looked up at him, as if the sudden noise was interrupting some kind of intricate pledge of silence.

"Roy?" Young Link asked quizzically, "Haven't you noticed Peach lately? She's been really sad too,"

Ness jumped up, brandishing his trusty yo-yo. "Quick! To the Delinquent Cave! Da na na na na na na na DELINQUENTS!!"

The other three looked up at him with raised brows, and Nana just shook her head as if there was no hope.

"Ness," She asked, "Did you sneak coffee again?"

The boy just grinned and performed a complex trick with his yo-yo.

"With extra sugar!"

Popo grinned sheepishly at the antics of his friend but stood up anyway.

"I think Ness' room is the Delinquent Cave..." The male Ice Climber said slowly. "In case no one's noticed, he's been muttering about that delinquent thing for five minutes,"

"So?" Link asked haughtily, "Ness is high on sugar, so why in the world are we even having this "delinquent" meeting. What the heck is that, anyway? Isn't delinquent an insult?"

"Look you guys, I know this isn't our style, but we gotta figure out what's wrong with Roy and Peach, and help them get happy again! Roy is like, the prank master! How are we gonna learn from him if he won't even come out of his room?" Popo said, ignoring Young Link's cynical statement.

There was silence between the four, and Ness just smiled.

"TO THE DELINQUENT CAVE!"

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

As the four entered Ness' room, Popo randomly picked a note pad off of the psychic boy's nightstand, and took a seat on the floor. His friends followed an formed a circle like before.

"So, what do we know about Peach and Roy?"

"Ooh, they hate each other!" Ness answered enthusiastically raising his hand, "They are always fighting and yelling at each other! Remember when she slapped him a couple of days ago? Maybe that's why Roy's sad!"

"Good work, bud," Popo congratulated as if he was a newspaper editor giving credit to a reporter for a good story, "But we need to find out why Peach was so easily provoked that day..."

"Why are you using such big words?" Young Link asked with a raised brow, "I thought you were stupid,"

Ignoring the insult, Popo answered, "Desperate times call for desperate measures,"

Cynical glances were passed around in response to what was said.

This time it was Nana's turn to give suggestions.

"Remember that fairy tale that they told together?" The only girl in the group asked, "They were talking about a princess falling in love with the prince charming she always hated! And Uncle Marth was acting really funny... Something about beginning the fairy tale..."

"Then she got all defensive on me when I made fun of it... maybe that story's kinda personal for her!" Popo suggested.

"Then Peach must be the princess in the story, because she _is_ a princess!" Ness stated dumbly, the effects of his sugar rush fading away.

"But who's the prince...?" Nana wondered aloud, as she went silent, thinking about anyone in the mansion who is a prince that Peach might have feelings for, that might link to Roy.

"Got it!" Young Link called out, jumping out of his seat triumphantly, "Marth is the prince, and Peach likes him!"

"No stupid," Popo retorted, "Marth is dating Samus! Besides, what does that scenario have to do with Roy?"

"Maybe Roy's upset that Marth has the hots for his _woman_!"

Nana, Popo, and Ness stared slack-jawed and wide-eyed at Young Link after his outburst, all of them surprised at his conclusion... And maybe even a little disgusted.

"Dude," Ness began, "Just sit down and look like your older self,"

The younger Link sighed and took his seat, not bothering to open his mouth for a smart retort.

"Anyway..." Ness said, letting the room know they were still plotting. "So, we have to figure out who this Prince Charming is... It's probably not going to help us any, but maybe it will lead us closer to helping Peach and Roy"

"Guys!" Nana suddenly said, "What if Roy is Peach's "prince charming"?"

Popo's eyes narrowed, his little mind formulating a plan.

"Then I guess we have to get them talking to each other again, now don't we?"

"What?!" Young Link exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the ground in front of him in astonishment, "How come you told me to shut up when I suggested that?!"

Popo just shrugged at the elf. "It sounded stupid when you said it. Besides, you dragged Marth into it."

Despite the silent pouts coming from the Hylian, the other three of them nodded, and stood, each of them exchanging knowing looks and shouted:

"DELINQUENTS!!"

However, none of them knew why they actually started calling themselves delinquents just because Ness did on his sugar high.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

"So how are we gonna do this?" Young Link asked Popo, who stood beside him, looking over a chair in the living room at the older Smashers, who included Peach, sitting on the couch and the chairs surrounding it.

The group had split up, each of them going to different branches of the mansion, gathering information.

"I dunno, stupid," Popo whispered loudly, his sharp tone etching into the young elf's ears.

"That's why you're here with me... To help me with my idea... um, making... thing... whatever..."

"Oh," The young hero replied quietly, "So that makes my job ten times easier!"

Popo groaned and put a hand to his forehead. "Look what I have to put up with!"

Link shrugged but looked over the couch as Popo pulled a pair of binoculars that were hanging around his neck, to spy on the unsuspecting group. The two stared as Samus was playfully teasing Marth while the prince just pouted, Link and Zelda were chatting away, and Peach was looking just as depressed as ever.

"Wow... this whole Roy thing has gotten her all bent out of shape." Popo observed, lowering his binoculars, his tone quiet and genuinely concerned.

"And just how are we going to help?" Young Link asked incredulously, "We can barely understand why the heck _Samus_ is dating _Marth_! How are we supposed to set up Roy and Peach? Shouldn't we just _tell_ her that Roy's got the hots for her?"

Popo put down his binoculars and popped the blonde on the back of his head in a scolding manner.

"No, you boob! A monkey could tell you that we'd mess everything up if we just _told _Peach that Roy likes her! He's got to tell her _himself_!"

Well excuuuuuse me..." the younger Link mumbled under his breath.

Popo sighed deeply. "I just hope that Nana and Ness are having better luck with Roy..."

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

The two younger Smasher's stood near the Pharean's door, contemplating whether they should knock on it or not.

"I dunno if this is such a good idea," Ness whined, looking in several directions nervously,

"What if he's in a bad mood?"

"Uncle Roy wouldn't blow up at us," Nana assured her friend, catching his anxiety, "He's probably too down in the dumps to yell at anyone, anyway."

Ness nodded his head to the side, and shrugging as if confirming that he indeed didn't take

those variables into the equation.

"Although, I'm not exactly very happy about being right this time," Nana said quietly, reading his expression and lifting her wrist to knock on the door twice, the pounding noises echoing throughout the quiet hallway.

The young kids heard footsteps on the other side of the door, until it was pulled ajar, revealing a bit of red hair sticking out of the small opening.

"Uncle Roy?" Nana inquired softly, looking up with large, chocolate brown eyes.

The general opened the door completely, and stared down at the two Smashers with a smile, but the Ice Climber could see that it was bittersweet. She could see that there was a lot of pain behind the forced smile.

"What do you guys need?" He asked, looking at the both of them.

"Can we come in for a while?" Ness spoke up, gathering his wits, "We need to talk to you about something important!"

Roy gestured for them to step into the room with his hands, and moved out of their way, allowing the two of them to pass.

The both entered to see the room virtually spotless, and to see items from Marth and Link near their beds. Roy sat down on his bed, the mattress groaning beneath his weight, and Nana and Ness sat down on either sides of him.

Roy rubbed a tired hand on one side of his face, and then let it flop lazily to his lap.

"So what did you two want to talk about?" He asked, trying his best to look completely preoccupied with them, instead of scatterbrained like he was.

Nana exchanged glances with Ness.

"Well... uh... we wanted to talk about..." The psychic boy trailed off, unable to speak the name, for fear of upsetting the swordsman. He swallowed hard, and passed the torch to Nana with his eyes.

"We w-wanted to talk about Auntie Peach!" Nana sputtered loudly, almost as unnerved as Ness was.

Even though she had been on his mind all day, Roy paled instantly at the sound of the blonde's name.

"W-what a-about her...?" He asked, his voice reduced to a mere cracking stutter.

Nana looked up at the general, her large eyes glazed over. This was the first time she had seen the red head look genuinely upset.

"H-how do you feel about her?" Ness prodded gently, picking his words carefully, knowing that the whole lot of him and his friends could be wrong about their whole theory. He knew they could be dead wrong.

Roy turned his head away, too ashamed to answer the question, and too ashamed to look his company in the eyes.

"I thought I had some type of feelings for her, but now, I'm not so sure of what I feel... She doesn't exactly think I'm a knight in shining armor." the general was solemn, and his voice void of any warmth. He wasn't sure why he was telling two young kids of his feelings, when he hadn't even told the friends he had that were his own age, but he felt compelled to vent to his kid friends.

Nana and Ness wouldn't think him pathetic and out of character. They held the childhood-oriented benefit of the doubt.

"Don't be so sure that she hates you, Uncle Roy," Nana said sadly as she patted his leg comfortingly above his knee, Roy's sorrow rubbing off on her, "She isn't feeling too happy either."

Roy extended his arms out and wrapped the two Smashers in a small thankful hug. Ness seemed opposed to it, but he decided to give his mouth a rest. Not everything deserved a smart-alec retort.

"Nana, Peach has always shrugged me off... And no matter how much I care for her, it won't make her do the same for me," Roy said, trying his best to explain his situation in a way they could understand, "You can't force what won't fit,"

He released his hold on his younger friends, and they both hopped off the bed.

"Thanks for talking with us," Ness spoke up, shooting the general a sunny smile, hoping that the cheerful glint would return to his eyes.

No avail. It seemed that there was nothing else any of them could say.

Nana turned to Roy and gave him one last sad smile, and then opened his dorm door and departed into the hallway with Ness, the both of them getting a lot more from their "talk" than what they originally thought they would.

A few minutes after leaving the Pharaean's room, Ness and Nana met up with Young Link and Popo to compare what they had learned in a nearby hallway. The four young friends hadn't spoken to Peach, because she seemed so void of conversation, but they realized that what Roy had told them was enough to make them realize that there was a lot more to their feud than just a slap in the face and a bad joke.

"I feel sad for them," Link said, looking at the floor, "It must be hard to like some one so much when they just ignore your feelings,"

Instead of Popo making some comment about Young Link making a sensitive statement and actually meaning it, he just nodded his head in agreement with the Hylian.

"I guess we weren't the big time detectives that we thought we were... I bet we made Roy feel even worse," Ness observed, leaning against a wall.

"I guess not..." Nana added softly, looking to the walls for some kind of answer.

Maybe getting caught up in the affairs of others wasn't such a wise decision after all.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

Princess Peach of Mushroom Kingdom looked around the "social gathering place" of the Smash Mansion, also known as the living area. She had been down there all day with Marth, Samus, Link, and Zelda, doing absolutely nothing in particular. Her friends has been chattering non-stop, and she couldn't currently see how in the world they could be so full of vigor... so full of life.

She hadn't been that cheerful herself in the past couple of days. Everyone expected her to be this, sugar fueled, happy princess who always had a warm smile on her face and hot pink polish on her nails.

Peach couldn't always be that. There was a time when she had to be an actual human being, not contained in the mental box people placed her in.

"Yo,"

The princess heard the slang term, but she didn't look up until she felt some one bang their fist on the arm of the chair she had been sitting in.

Peach jerked her head to see Samus Aran standing over her, her green eyes stony, and her expression locked into a scowl.

"You're really worrying us," the bounty hunter spoke, her tone like a dagger to Peach's ears. "You've just been sitting over here sulking. It doesn't make sense."

Samus hadn't intended to sound so condescendingly blunt and uncaring. Empathy took to back seat even when she didn't want it to. Mental cursing of her horrible people skills ensued.

Peach, unaware of her friend's ambivalent feelings, stood suddenly, her cool suddenly lost in the million thoughts running through her head.

"Of course it doesn't make sense to **you**!" the honey-blonde bellowed at the tomboy, "You have the perfect relationship!"

She gestured to Marth sitting beside the spot that Samus once occupied, "The both of you got together with virtually no effort! You didn't have to work at it! It came _natural_ to you! Sorry if everyone else can't do it so easily!"

Samus was about to fire back the fact that it took her a while to warm up to Marth thinking of her in a romantic manner, but the princess, on her rampage, beat her to the punch.

"Unlike **you two**, some people just don't fit together like jigsaws on a puzzle! You have to rip yourself apart to try and see things the way the other person does!" Peach stated, the volume of her voice alerting every other Smasher in the living room, causing the occupants to go quiet under her dominant voice's reign.

Samus just looked at her friend wide-eyed, not used to seeing her so... moody.

The princess looked around the room to see everyone staring at her. Her heart ached, and she suddenly felt her burst of rage simmer down to quiet, subtle, confusion and anger.

She whispered a barely audible "I'm sorry" to Samus before she ran blindly out of the room, and almost tripped going up the stairs, heading to her dorm. She couldn't look at anyone, especially Samus, after the way she had just spoken to her.

The bounty hunter made a move to go after Peach, but she felt a hand grab her wrist before she could even take a step. She turned around to see Link, shaking his head, slowly indicating that that Peach needed her space now.

Samus could only stare after the path that her friend took with pained eyes.

Peach, on the other hand, slowed her pace down to a hurried walk when she disappeared from sight, not noticing the fact that she passed Roy, who had decided to be apart of the general population after having a conversation with a two certain younger Smashers, who had unknowingly motivated him to face his fears, instead of cowering up into a ball before them.

The male turned around to see the one person who had been cutting cracks into his mind all day walking right past him. Before she got too far, he lunged out quickly and took her gently by the shoulders. He felt her tense under his fingers.

"Peach," he said softly, not paying attention to the lack of struggle on her part, "I need to talk to you."

He was going to be serious for a moment. He needed to do this, before he lost his nerve.

Peach's eyes burned with the urge to cry mad, angry tears, but she refused. Crying was what everyone expected her to do, and she would not show weakness. This was her time to be strong.

She wouldn't turn around and look into Roy's eyes.

"I know you hate me right now. But I think one of us has to bend a little before we both break." Roy ignored the lump in his throat, "I can't go on trying to make sense of us."

He hated being so quick to get to the point, along with how vague his words were, but it hurt to say what needed to be said. He just wanted to get it over with.

It was initially just a slap. But now, it had turned into so much more.

"I'm finished trying to get you to make a final decision on how you feel about me," it felt like he was choking on his words, "I can't mope around anymore. You need to find out what you really want. And if it involves not talking to me again, then that's fine. I just don't want to see you upset."

He stared at her rigid back for a moment, a thick silence taking over the hallway.

Roy flinched as he felt Peach turn around and grip the stomach of his shirt, pulling his body close to hers.

"You idiot," she hissed into his ear, brushing cheeks with him, her words like a pin dropping to the floor in an empty room, "_You're_ what I want."

Having said that, she pulled his lips down forcefully to meet hers in a bruising kiss.

Roy went into instant shock. Peach pushed him against the nearest wall for support as she deepened the kiss. It felt like all her frustrations with him ran together in one aggressive moment.

After the shock subsided, Roy lifted his body from the wall and returned the kiss with equal force.

That was all Peach ever wanted from Roy. She wanted him to fight for her, but he just gave up. Maybe that was stupid and selfish on her part. It began to occur to her that maybe this whole fiasco had been her fault, and she should have just confessed to him long ago.

But none of that mattered right now. As the taste of Roy began to take over her senses and stain her lips, she found that she had no right to think about anything else.

After what felt like only a split-second later, Roy broke away suddenly and stared at her in disbelief, breathing heavily from the heated kiss.

Peach, however, found herself unable to contain a smile. A smile that brushed away the cobwebs of her heart. She had finally found her peace. Her anger was gone.

"How can you just smile at me?" Roy asked, befuddled at her robustly amused behavior.

Peach just chuckled and offered him her arm. "Come on. I give you permission to walk me to my room."

"Permission?" Roy questioned, losing his ignorance and smirking at the girl. "And isn't it the _guy _that's supposed to give the _girl_ his arm? And you still haven't answered my first question!"

Peach rolled her eyes as she walked down the remainder of the hallway, her arm looped with Roy's, the both of them walking at the same pace, side by side.

No words needed to be said. Roy secretly knew the answer.

It wasn't really all that noticeable, but it occurred to him that maybe Peach had loved him all along.

"So..." he said slowly, turning his head to look at the girl beside him. "Does this mean we're a couple or something?"

Yes, Roy," Peach said matter-of-factly, "I didn't just make out in the hallway with you for nothing!"

"Hmph! One can only hope for no strings attached!" he muttered loudly, purposely making himself sound genuinely disappointed so she would retaliate. Which, of course, she did without missing a beat.

"That's not very funny." Peach had heard his little comment, and took the bait without a second thought.

The red head laughed, noticing that they were already arguing. It seemed that no matter how close they were, they were destined to disagree... And maybe that was okay. He actually preferred it that way.

"I guess some things never change," he said, the cheerful glint returning to his eye. "... Except maybe the fact that you dig me, because, I mean, look at me... I'm gorgeous!"

Peach shook her head. "Come on, Mr. Conceited. I think we need to have a talk about your sudden lost touch on reality."

Roy gave her a small peck on the cheek. "Be in denial if you want... Hey, if you can call me Mr. Conceited, can I call you Peachie?"

The girl grimaced, but regarded his question.

"I suppose so…."

Roy pumped his fist in victory at her answer, even though he would have called her Peachie no matter if he had her permission or not.

As they approached her room, Peach suddenly became anxious. As if on cue, memories of only ten minutes ago flooded into her brain.

She had slammed one of her best friends, and on top of that, she snapped seemingly for no reason in front of every fighter in the Melee Tournament.

What would they think of her?

Seeing her sudden change in expression, Roy looked at her oddly.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, stopping in front of her dorm.

Peach took him by the hand and opened her door, dragging the general with her as she shut it

firmly behind them.

"Are we doing a strip tease or what?" Roy joked with her, earning a glare from the princess.

"No," she answered plainly, her tone carrying a hint of disappointment in herself, "I just remembered how badly I screwed up!"

It was clear she needed some closure.

Roy sat on one of the three beds in the room, and patted his knee, gesturing her to sit down.

"Sit and tell me about it. Right here. Next to Papa."

She smiled slightly and obliged his command. She needed the comfort.

"So what did you do?" he asked, snaking an arm around her waist, and resting his head on her shoulder.

"I told Samus off when she was trying to make me feel better," Peach despaired at how stupid she acted as she subconsciously shifted from Roy's knee to sit between his legs.

"I'm sure Sam knows you didn't mean it, Peachie." he coaxed softly, "It's not like she's all that sensitive anyways."

"Neither are you," Peach quipped, "But I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate me screaming at you in front of twenty-three other people."

Roy sighed, knowing this wasn't an argument he couldn't win.

"I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

Peach huffed slightly at the remark's expense as she felt Roy's warm body leave her to lay down on the bed and stretch.

"This is_ your_ bed, right?" He suddenly lifted his head, not wanting to be making himself at home on either Zelda or Samus' mattress without their knowledge.

At the blonde's nod, he relaxed himself once more and looked at the ceiling.

It felt good to be able to have a moment's peace without having to think of the thousand problems that had plagued his mind not too long before.

Roy felt Peach settle into the space beside him. He couldn't shake it, but a question had suddenly popped into his head.

"What made you kiss me in the first place?"

Peach cocked her head to one side as she stared at the general out of the corner of her eye.

"It's hard to explain..."

"I've got the time," Roy said, turning over on his side to face her.

"I don't know… I did it… Just because."

She couldn't think of any other reason. The real motive was hard to put into words without sounding horribly cliché and rehearsed.

"… Well, I guess that's enough for me!" Roy grinned at her for good measure.

"That's it?" Peach was surprised he had no over zealous, dramatic questions to ask her.

The swordsman shrugged. "That's all the reason I need. Who cares about the past when you have the present?"

Peach made a mental note to write that down. It wasn't often Roy said anything worth quoting.

"I think that's your best feature," she told him, "Sometimes you're not very prying when other people would be. It saves me a lot of emotional stuff I don't want to go into."

His companion grinned goofily and put both hands behind his head in a very relaxed manner. "Well, I do my best. And sometimes you don't need all those gushy explanations or whatever. You just know… Ya know?"

Peach internally laughed. He wasn't very eloquent, but Roy did have quite a lot of introspective thoughts. You just had to dig a bit to find them.

There was a comfortable silence before Roy spoke up in random question.

"Wait. What do you mean _'I'm not sensitive_?'"

The girl looked at him, as if questioning his seriousness.

"_A_ _strip tease_?" Peach threw his words back at him with a grin, "That was kind of a mood killer, right?"

Roy merely shrugged. "I dunno... It's sensitive enough, right? I mean... I'm so emotional... I'm like... a woman or something..."

Upon hearing his last comment, Peach scooted a considerable amount of distance away from him.

"I didn't mean it **literally**!" He caught her jokingly move away from him and he sat up.

Peach did likewise and playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"I'm just kidding," she teased him, "It's customary for us to do that, right?"

Roy agreed, but he still shook his head out of amusement, not paying attention to the door knob turning as Samus and Zelda began to enter, with Link and Marth standing a distance behind them, probably walking with them since the male dorms were on a separate hallway, a little farther down.

"Uh, what's going on in here?" a voice they recognized as Zelda's asked.

Roy and Peach's heads snapped to look over at their friends, all of them looking at the pair with blank stares.

"I DID **NOT** USE MARTH'S SHAMPOO IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!" The red headed swordsman exclaimed, raising his hands in defense as Peach released him.

The four pairs of orbs remained transfixed on him.

"I just remembered!" He said nervously, trying to get from under the suspicious gazes of the others, "I have to go... uh... braid my hair! Yeah, that's it!"

Zelda stepped further into the room to give Roy an opening to leave through, which he did, but not without stopping to pass Peach a quick wink.

"Phone me sweetie!" he said, flashing her the "call me" gesture, then quickly bolted down the hallway to the right.

"Uh..." Link said, sensing the awkward vibe in the air, "I'm going to go follow him in case he hurts himself!"

"- I'm going to make sure he didn't really use my shampoo!" Marth stated almost in unison with the Hylian.

And as quickly as they had came, the two of them power-walked down the same direction as their departed friend, secretly knowing exactly what had just taken place, leaving Peach standing alone in the room with a bounty hunter and the Sage of Wisdom looking blankly at her.

"I guess I got some 'splaning to do," Peach said meekly, half talking about Roy and herself, and half talking about the way she talked to Samus earlier.

Said bounty hunter just grinned slyly and crossed her arms, leaning on the doorframe with soft eyes, telling the embarrassed princess with her expression that she held no grudge for their fight earlier. In addition of course, she clearly read between the lines what the whole scene in front of her unveiled.

"No. I think we all know what happened here. But I think you_ do _owe an explanation to our little detectives, Nana, Ness, Popo, and Young Link who saw you playing tonsil hockey with Roy in the hallway."

Peach looked absolutely mortified at Samus' description, but felt better nonetheless.

Because, as of right now, everything was fine. And she was content in that.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**Whoa! That kiss scene was kinda steamy, no? Almost as steamy as Roy in the shower! **

**Hah, just kidding!**

**Well, I hoped you enjoyed the fact that I didn't take another 7 months to update, and the fact that those two finally got over themselves and confessed LOVE!! XD XP **

**I focused this whole chapter on Roy and Peach because this love confession was 10 chapters in the making pretty much, and besides, I love the both of them... And it seemed like most people were ready for them to get together anyways.**

**I hope you guys don't mind the quick transition from angst to humor... I could never make RoyPeach an all around angsty couple... Besides, I think their little arguments are adorable, but that's just me.**

**Also, I proofread this a thousand times, so if you find grammar errors, (which I'm sure you will...) please disregard them, and a thousand apologies from me.**

**Many thanks to the following peoples:**

**Fried Cheesecake**

**Hello Nessa**

**tanimax**

**Unique-Yoshi**

**BabyGurl278**

**Mimza**

**s **(Hey dude, I feel sorry that you can't read. Apparently you can't spell either. But I can't say anything, because after looking back at everything I just had to revise, neither can I. XDD.)

**RoyalFanatic**

**ElementUchihaMaster**

**Royal Kenya**

**ShimmeringJade**

**Babykoalaprincess**

**crystalicios**

**Empress Caroline of Tamaran **

**Well, my wonderful subjects, (gives reviewers brownies because RK prefers them over cookies) thank you for reading**, **and PLEEEEEEASE review on the way out**!

**With randomness,**

**-Sage**


End file.
